Strings Attached
by kage kitsune 14
Summary: OC, Hikari get's dumped in One Piece, every fan's dream. Except her spontaneous trip has strings attached. One of those strings happened to be an annoying voice inside of her head. Starts at Shells' Town. My (failed) attempt for NaNoWriMo 2012.
1. Enter Hikari, the Unwilling Insert

Key:

"Talk" Out loud speech.

'Talk' Thoughts thought towards mental voice.

Talk. Thoughts that are private.

**"Talk"** Mental voice talking.

**'Talk'** Mental voice thinking.

You know all those fanfictions that have fanatics dropped into their favorite anime/book/movie etc.?

Yeah. It's not as great as those stories make it sound like.

Here's my story. How I was dropped into an anime I had just started to watch, and how the deal had some unknown strings attached.

It was every fangirls' dream. To be dropped into their favorite anime. Don't get me wrong. I normally would've been thrilled too. Except for one little thing...

**"You know, most people would be thrilled to be in their favorite anime."** the annoying little voice in my head chirped. The voice was male, probably around my age, and extremely perky. It annoyed the hell out of me.

'And I would be if it wasn't for you.' I thought back. I had replied to the voice out loud at first, but after getting a dozen odd looks I had decided it was better to just think my answers back. Least the citizens of whatever town I was in decided that I needed to be taken away to the funny farm.

Did they even have funny farms in the One Piece world?

Eh. Who really cares? At the very least I would be arrested by the Marines for disturbing the peace or something like that.

Back to my little problem.

**"I resent that. I'm not little nor am I a problem."** the voice replied.

'Yes, because hearing disembodied voices was something all normal nineteen year old women do.'

**"I thought so."**

And it doesn't even get sarcasm. I wonder if I can trade this little voice in for a better little voice. Maybe a female voice. Having a male voice in my head just made me feel like he was perving on me.

**"I also resent that."**

'No you resemble that.' I thought back sharply. 'Why are you in my head again?'

**"Sub clause 8-3 of the contract you signed."** it returned unhelpfully.

'What contract? I didn't sign a contract.'

**"Whoops. Too late now. I've already fulfilled my end of the contract. Thus you have to fulfill your end."** He replied before shutting up.

'Wait a minute. That's not legal or binding! I'll sue you!'

**"Good luck getting a lawyer to take this case on. Girl vs Disembodied voice in her head. You're sure to win."**

Now he gets sarcasm. I grumbled to myself making sure not to project the thought to the entity who was now sharing attic space with me.

'What are you good for anyway?' I demanded irritatedly.

**"Awwww. Don't be like that Komi-chan!" **he cooed.

'I told you a million times. It's Shannon. Not Komi, not Komiko, not Nakomi, not Sakomi, not Kokomi. None of those. It's Shannon.' I groused.

**"No can do. You need to have a Japanese style name or you'll stick out like a sore thumb here."**

Like I don't already?

I was wearing my pjs so I wasn't exactly dressed up to normal person's standards.

And to think my day had been going so well before the little voice popped up.

It had been the usual Tuesday, except for the fact my only class of the day had been canceled. I should've realized right then something bad was going to happy. The balance of Karma dictates that should something good happen to you, you need to have earned it or else something bad will happen to even the good event out. Unfortunately I hadn't done anything deserving of such good fortune this particular day.

I had lazed around my dorm room most of the day only going out three times. Once for lunch, once for dinner and once for Karate Club practice. I had joined the Karate Club at the beginning of my first semester of college which I was still currently in. I was okay at it. I mean I could get through the kata without forgetting much but I wasn't fast or anything.

Then I had retreated to my room sore and smelling like body odor of the worst kind. I had then made a strategic retreat to the showers where I quickly removed said body odor.

After that I returned to my room smelling like "Everlasting Sunshine" shampoo, and "Energizing Citrus" body wash. I was also in my pjs. I was just lucky I had decided to wear my winter pjs so I had on a pair of soft white pj pants with multicolored hearts, and a white t-shirt instead of a knee length nightdress.

"See ya." My roommate called out as she left the room closing the door behind her. My roommate's name was Kaylee. She was a bit taller than me, had short blond hair that she usually straightened, and blue eyes. She also wore thin framed glasses. She was a year older than me, exactly. We had the same birthday and everything. She was a sophomore. I was a Freshmen.

"Bye." I returned easily.

Then quickly grabbed my laptop and retreated to my bunk, I was on the bottom bunk. Which had both good points and bad points. Good that I wasn't up in the air, because I was terrified of heights. Bad that I usually got my hair caught in the springs supporting the mattress above me, which was extra annoying because I usually wore my hair in a ponytail and it constantly pulled it out of said ponytail.

I quickly moved to my favorite site, FanFiction dot net, and began my usual leisure time activity-reading fanfictions. I had found the site when I was twelve. I had been irritated that I wasn't able to have my own account until I was thirteen, but I still read the fictions. I had started with Naruto then moved onto other stories such as Harry Potter, Twilight, and my current obsession, One Piece.

"Let's see." I mumbled to myself out loud to fill up the silence. I hated silence. I always felt lonely when it was completely silent. I usually listened to music to feel the emptiness but I hadn't wanted to bother my roommate while she was in.

"How about this one." I thought as I clicked a link and soon immersed myself in the world of One Piece.

Luffy was like most protagonists in anime. He had an overwhelming dream to be the best of the best (Pirate King), he was disliked for something that happened to him as a child (He ate the Gumu Gumu no Mi), and he was a loud mouth who was obsessed with the food of his choice (which happened to be meat).

Zoro was the bad-ass of the team but he had some quirks that made him funny as well as cool.

I didn't really like Nami all that much though. I hardly liked any of the females in anime. They were all portrayed horribly. Either they're weak as hell, violent to their comrades, so two dimensional it should be a sin. Or a combination of all of those. Nami was the weak as hell and horribly violent to her comrades.

Plus she was greedy and that just didn't sit right with me. I was the sort of person who felt stealing from someone was reprehensible. If you needed something you worked for it or obtained it honestly.

If I was a woman in One Piece I wouldn't be as bad as the rest of the women in anime. That was for sure.

Ussop was all right. He was cowardly, sure, but he could make a stand when he needed to protect someone or something important to him. And that made him cool in my books.

I really didn't have an opinion on Sanji. He was a horrible womanizer but he cared for the crew in his own way. I didn't mind him.

Like I had said before. Normally I would've been thrilled about being dumped into one of my favorite anime, except for the fact I didn't know this anime as good as I knew Naruto, or Pokemon. And yes Pokemon is an anime. I don't want to hear any arguments about it.

In addition to the fact I had a little voice in my head. One that was pretty much useless.

**"Aww. Come on Komi-chan..."** he whined.

'Not Komi!' I mentally yelled beyond irritated. 'If I have to have a Japanese style name I'm going to pick my own.'

The voice stayed silent. I vaguely wondered if he had a name before pushing the thought away.

'Either Hikari (radiance), Mai (dance), or Maki (true record).' I finally conceded to the voices demands of a Japanese name.

**"Hm. Hikari fits you better than the others."** he cast his ballot.

Hikari it was.

And no. Hikari isn't a drink. You are thinking of Bacarty. Emphasis on the bah.

I sighed and looked around. Where the hell am I?

**"You're in Shells Town, about a week before Luffy arrives..."** the voice replied.

'Do you have a name? Or am I just going to call you voice for the remainder of the time you reside in my head?' How long was that going to be anyway?

Damn. I feel like a nutcase. I was talking to the voice in my head and asking him if he had a name.

**"You can call me Rai."** he replied.

Lightning? I made sure my thought was to myself.

'So what am I supposed to do? I have no money, I'm wearing pjs, and I have no place to stay?' I asked Rai, curling my bare toes into the dirt gently. Oh and I'm bare foot.

**"Steal some money. You're going to be a pirate right?"**

'Yes because it's a really smart idea to commit a crime in the town that's practically a marine base. Plus I have no stealth skills at all. And I don't feel like trying to mug one of these guys.' I wearily eyed a fisherman. He was about six-three, and almost completely muscle. Probably from handling heavy sails and nets.

**"You should find it easier to be sneaky now. I mean with your new body and all."**

'New body?!'

**"Didn't I tell you?"** he asked innocently.

I growled at him then turned and ran to the nearest reflective surface. It was a window for a small pawn shop. I looked at my reflection in shock.

I was wearing my pjs like I had thought, but now they hung of my petite frame. The tee-shirt was dipping almost low enough to show my chest and my pants were extremely baggy. My hair was a mess, it looked like I hadn't even bothered to comb it and it was fire engine red, of all colors. My eyes were a startling green, the color I had always wished they were. Usually my hair was dark brown and my eyes were a muted hazel color. My face was also thinner, more angular and I blinked. I had a small scar underneath my right eye in the shape of a D. Weird.

I reached up and ran my hand through my hair several times gently untangling knots and setting it to rights as much as possible without a brush. Then I stared at my face for a while longer memorizing it.

I blinked staring at the beautiful girl in the reflection of the store window. I had never really been vain. I had no reason to be. I was practically the definition of Plain Jane, well except the fact I had been slightly overweight. But I could easily admit I was now hot. Which was a word I had never thought I would use about myself.

My chest was larger than it had been too. Probably because Eiichiro Oda drew most of the females in the anime with huge chests. It probably didn't help that I wasn't wearing a bra. They were really uncomfortable to sleep in so I never did, sleep in them I mean.

"Hey, Girl. What are you doing?" A male voice demanded. He was wearing a marine uniform.

I hide a smirk. Time to use my new looks to do what I had always seen other girls do. Flirt/Cry to get out of trouble.

I took a breath making sure it sounded shaky. "I-I-I don't know where I am." I fake sobbed. "I was just in my room when everything went black and I woke up here."

The marine officer was obviously new. He didn't know how to react to a seemingly hysteric woman.

"Uh. There, there?" He tried halfheartedly to sooth me.

I took another deep breath and let out a fake wail of sorrow, covering my face so he couldn't see that I wasn't actually crying.

I could hear a lot of civilian women grumbling about men not knowing how to be sympathetic. Finally one of the women came over and gently grabbed me by the shoulder pulling me to her side.

"Shh. Let's go get you cleaned up then I can help you find out what happened." She soothed before throwing a glare at the floundering male.

I was led to a small house on the outskirts of town. I used the sleeve of my shirt to wipe my face to make it seem like I was brushing away tears.

"Here dear." She said as she gently pushed me into the bathroom. "You get cleaned up and I'll find you some clothes you can have."

I felt sort of bad for tricking her along with the idiot marine but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I nodded silently and jumped into the shower as soon as the door closed. I scrubbed my skin hard working a thin layer of dust and dirt off, and made sure to scrub my feet extra hard because they were filthy from going around bare footed.

"Here dear." The woman said once more setting a small pile of clothes on the closed toliet lid.

"Thank you." I said gratefully.

"No problem hun." she replied easily. "Just come down stairs when you're done."

I dried quickly then pulled on the clothes she had left me.

The bra she left was a little loose but it was better than nothing. She had also gotten me a pair of underwear with the tags still on them. They were white lace and I felt embarrassed just holding them and I had no clue how I was going to wear them without flushing horribly anytime I thought about them. There was a pair of black capris, with a dozen pockets all over the legs. I wouldn't ever have a problem finding pocket space. The shirt was an emerald green three quarter sleeved shirt with a vee-neck that dipped to show my collarbone. She had also left a pair of sandles that were a couple sizes too small for my feet. I had always had big feet for a woman. I had even resorted to wearing men's shoes before because I couldn't find any wide enough in the women's section of the store.

I shrugged and grabbed the shoes and walked down the stairs, still bare foot.

"Oh." The woman said looking at me shocked. "Are the shoes too big?" She asked.

I shook my head. "They're too small." I admitted sheepishly.

"Oh." she looked startled. "I'll try to find you something bigger." She said.

"You don't need to-" I started to protest.

"Nonsense." she stated with a sharp tone. "You obviously don't have anything but what you were wearing early. It's no problem."

I had nothing to say to that. It was true. The only things I had were the clothes I had been wearing. My glasses had even disappeared. Good thing I only need to read things at distances. I could live without them. Or I could get new ones somewhere. I knew several characters in the anime had glasses. There was Silvers Rayleigh and Tashigi for example. So there had to be an optometrist somewhere in the world. Logue Town seemed like a safe bet considering it was the largest town that they pass through.

Why was I acting as if I was going to go with the strawhats? It wasn't like I had any talents I could really offer the crew. I could barely do the katas for my Karate Club and I was acting like I was going to be on the strawhat crew. Not likely.

**"Says who. You're going to join the crew whether you want to or not. It's in the contract."**

'The one I didn't sign?'

**"Too bad. Coming to this world was considered consent."**

'I didn't even get a choice in that. For all intents and purposes you kidnapped me.'

**"Yeah that will go over in court. The voice in my head kidnapped me and took me to another dimension in which anime is real."**

I was really wishing Rai hadn't learned to use sarcasm. Because it was now a pain in my ass.

I growled at him and then ignored whatever he tried to say afterwards.

The voice definitely wanted me to get murdered. I had no combat experience and I would probably be killed in the first fight. I couldn't be a marksman, er woman, I didn't know how to wield a sword, I couldn't use my legs to kick ass, and I didn't even know how to use a staff. I only had my fists. I didn't even have a devil fruit power to help.

"Here." the woman's voice broke through my thoughts. I accepted the sandles she handed me wordlessly.

"I never caught your name. I'm Hikari." I said.

"Oh. I'm Aiko. It's nice to meet you." she replied easily as if she was used to talking to ackward strangers.

I smiled softly at her. It was odd to find people so helpful in my world so I wasn't used to people being so helpful. And happy to help for that matter.

"So what do you think happened to you?" she finally asked.

"I was kidnapped. I don't know why he just dumped me here but I really need to find a way to make some money and get home again." I told her.

She looked upset on my behalf. "I know the owner of the bar down the road. I'm sure she would hire you if I asked her."

"Oh. You've already done so much for me though..." I protested halfheartedly. I really did need the job.

"It's no problem. Follow me." Aiko led me down the street right to Ririka's bar. The bar where Zoro was arrested by Helmeppo. The woman appeared just as she had been in the anime. Brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a light green dress over a dark green tee-shirt.

"Ririka. This is Hikari. She was kidnapped from her home and dumped in town. She needs a job for a while." Aiko explained. I pushed a strand of fire engine red hair behind my ear, so I could see her clearer.

Suddenly I was bumped from behind. I stumbled slightly but quickly caught myself. The person who ran into me apologized profusely. I just smiled and told her it wasn't needed softly.

"She's rather soft spoken." Ririka said to Aiko, unaware that I could hear her.

"Is that bad?" Aiko asked.

"Just strange. Most teenagers are outspoken. So much so that they're rude. She seems different. I'll take her on. I'll only be able to pay her 200 beli an hour, less than minimum wage." Ririka stated.

"If you include meals and housing, I'm sure she'll be happy with it." Aiko said.

Ririka nodded. "Sounds fair."

"Hikari. You start now." Ririka stated throwing me an apron. I quickly tied it around my waist. Searching the pockets and finding a notebook and a pencil. I quickly flipped the notebook to the next clean page. I quickly mentally numbered the tables. In clockwise order from the door, one through eight, then the four center tables were numbered nine, ten, eleven and twelve also in clockwise order.

"Go and take orders. They pay when you deliver the food." Ririka stated. "It cuts down on the dine 'n dashers." She said with a small grin.

I gave a nod and quickly went on my way.

Soon the page of the notebook was filled with many orders. A lot of it was for sake and other alcoholic drinks but there were quite a few who wanted food as well.

Soon I had gotten into a rhythm. Take orders, deliver food, take payment, dodge the occasional drunk who decided to grope me. The first time it happened I didn't see it coming and had to retreat with a red face after slapping the drunkard who had grabbed me.

Several hours later it was closing time and I was exhausted. I accepted my pay from Ririki. Most of it would be going towards new clothes, and maybe glasses. The rest would be put in my own savings. I slipped the apron off and hung it on the hook set in place just for that. Then I let Rika lead me to my room. I dropped onto the bed after toe-ing off my sandles without even changing clothes.

I was woken the next morning by an insistent knocking.

"Hikari get up!" Rika ordered bossily as she continued pounding on my door. I groaned pulling the thin pillow over my head and clamped it down around my ears. The sound muffled slightly but not enough.

"Alright I'm up." I grumbled as I rolled out of bed landing on my hands and knees before quickly standing erect.

I looked at my rumpled clothes with distaste. But since I didn't have anything else to wear...

I straightened my clothes as much as possible before getting to work. I went with my new routine and soon my shift was over.

"Ririka, I'm going to go shopping. I'll be back in time for the dinner shift." I called over my shoulder as I deposited my apron on its hook.

"Alright." Ririka called back. I hurried through the town and found a small clothes shop. I bought another three outfits like the one I had currently then I bought a coat too.

Then I looked at the meager funds I had left. I had worked for eight hours yesterday. Two hundred beli an hour for eight hours only gave me sixteen hundred beli. I had spent fifteen hundred on clothes. I shrugged and pocketed the rest. I could earn more and buy the rest of the stuff I needed tomorrow.

I had already worked for five hours today. Plus the rest of my shift would be another five hours. I would make twenty hundred for the day, plus whatever tips I received. Tomorrow I would get myself a dagger or something sharp for protection. That would probably take all of the money I had.

I drifted into thought as I headed back to my job. It wasn't a bad job. Not a good job either. It was just a job that I needed for the money. Ririka and Rika were all right, except for Ririka's xenophobia. I just didn't quite fit in with the small time bar owners. They were too stiff, too formal, too... not real. They acted like normal people it just seemed they wanted to keep everyone at a distance.

I shrugged that thought off and took my stuff up to my room before getting back to work.

Later that night after I had gotten paid I laid awake and wondered why I felt caged. I had a stable job, I had a place to sleep, I got three meals a day, and I even had some clothes to call my own. So why did I feel like a tiger in a zoo? Trapped with people watching for me to do something to amuse them.

I sighed and fell asleep wondering...

Day three was much the same as day one and two. Woke up, ate, worked, took my lunch break as a chance to buy something, worked again, dinner, then sleep. Rinse and repeat.

I had bought a dagger like I had promised myself. It was simple in both design and style. It was about half a foot long, made of a mix of bronze and steel which gave it a gold-ish brown glow in the light. Its pommel was just the right size for my hand to wrap around it easily and comfortably. On the very end was a small black onyx looking like an eye staring out of the pommel. I had the sheath on my belt but tucked into my pants. The handle resting gently against my stomach under my shirt. Invisible to most people. And within easy reach.

Day four found me using my lunch break to practice drawing my dagger in the privacy of my room. Making sure I could draw the dagger within seconds. Just in case. I had also went through my kata to make sure my reflexes were still up to my level. I didn't want to lose any skills I did have. It would be bad in a place where your life depended on your fighting skills.

Rai hadn't bothered me since he had warned me that I would be joining Luffy, whether I wanted to or not.

I wondered vaguely if I missed him before shrugging it off. No I didn't miss the annoying voice that made me feel like I was less than sane.

My peaceful routine was ruined on day seven when one Monkey D. Luffy barged into the bar and started ordering food like it was going out of style.

Holy shit. I stared as he ate his seventh plate of meat. It was like watching a train wreck. You wanted to look away and cover your ears but you just could build up your will enough to turn away.

"Hikari?" Rika asked me.

"Holy shit." I whispered reverently. That was amazing. It was like watching a magician. One second the food was there, the next it was gone.

"Ooh you swore." Rika gasped.

I rolled my eyes. Shit wasn't a swear word. She needed to get out more.

"If that's the worst you've heard and you live here, you obviously need to get out of your room more kid." I stated.

"I'm telling mom."

I shrugged. "If your mom was worried about the language you would be exposed to she would've hired a babysitter and kept you away from the bar when it was opened." I said easily as I took the pile of empty plates from Luffy's table.

I returned with two more filled plates of meat. And he inhaled those too. I accepted the money from the pink haired boy with him, I think his name was Tobi or something. He certainly reminded me of that annoying bastard from Naruto.

**"It's Coby." **Rai inserted, annoyingly I might add.

'So you've finally returned' I thought. 'I thought I was finally rid of you.'

**"Nope you're stuck with me. Mwhahahaha-." **he cut off his maniacal laughter half way through and hacked harshly.

I nearly felt a sweat-drop form on the back of my head. And I was stuck with him in my head. I must've done something evil in my past life to deserve this. I probably kicked a puppy or drowned a kitten or something. That's the only thing that would deserve punishment like this.

That or I had pissed of some higher power by just existing.

I was leaning towards the pissing off a higher being. No amount of kicking puppies or drowning kittens would account for this annoying thing.

**"Pay attention."** Rai snapped at me.

I blinked and focused on Luffy once more.

"Two more plates!" He cheered.

I nodded as I accepted his empty plates bringing two more plates. Accepting pay from Koby again once I brought the plates.

He was looking at his wallet mournfully. It was getting emptier each time I came back. He was obviously thinking he shouldn't have offered to pay for Luffy's meal.

Finally Luffy stopped ordering food. And I cheerfully bid them good bye. I got paid commission after all. I was sure to get a good amount from serving their table.

I was only smiling until noon.

Helmeppo and his bodyguards came in just after lunch and demanded food and booze for free. I hid my disgust and quickly dropped the food and booze on his table before turning to walk away.

Before I got a few feet I was stopped by an arm around my waist.

"Come on sweetheart. Stay with me. I have just the entertainment for you. You know that Zoro guy? I'm going to execute him tomorrow. He's become boring."

I felt my face flush in anger and disgust. I yanked myself away from him.

"You disgust me." I spat on the ground at his feet. "You aren't worth the air you breath."

"How dare you talk to me like that. Apologize before I tell my daddy." The pompous snot ordered.

"Do the letters F O mean anything to you?" I asked. After seeing his blank look I spoke really slowly so he could understand. "Fuck. Off."

"Guards! Make her apologize!"

"But-" One of the men started to protest.

"Now! Or I'll tell my daddy on you." Helmeppo demanded like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

The one guard stepped forward with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry." he whispered as he reached for me.

"I am too." I answered then launched a side kick at his unprotected side. My foot hit him hard winding him. Then, before he had time to react, the same foot came back up in a front snap kick after only touching the ground briefly.

With a loud "OOF" of air the marine tripped backwards, off balance, and hit the edge of the table knocking him out cold.

Most of the bar was now staring at me with their mouths dropped open. I could practically hear many of the men thanking whatever god they worshiped that the hadn't managed to make me mad enough to kick their asses.

"Guard!" the second one came forward more cautiously. I waited for him to get close enough then launched a snap kick. As expected he tried to block. While his hands were crossed across his chest I threw a punch at his jaw. With a yelp and a click, he stumbled back. Then he spit out a wad of blood and saliva. He had obviously bit his tongue when I had hit him.

There was a terrifying silence all through the bar. The marine had his head down. His face was shadowed by the brim of his hat, hiding the majority of his face instead of just the eyes like the hat normally does when facing straight.

Then he launched himself forward, drawing his katana. I reacted instinctively. My practice had paid off and I had my dagger in my hand within a second. The katana was blocked three seconds later, in the middle of its downward arch.

"She's had a dagger this whole time." muttered whispers echoed in the tense room.

The marine looked stunned. I took the time provided to launch a front snap kick. But this time I didn't aim for the chest. With a whimper the marine slid to the ground, dropping his sword and holding on to his "family jewels" as the pain hit him.

Without a second thought I threw another kick hitting him in the temple and dropping him like a sack of flour.

The bar was silent in shock. Then Luffy who up until then had been a silent spectator punched Helmeppo...hard.

**And I think that's a good enough place to end this. This is the first chapter of my attempt for NaNoWriMo this year. (It's 11/12/12 incase anyone wants to know.). **


	2. Introducing Nami, the Pirate Theif

After Luffy decked Helmeppo and the stupid son picked himself up and ran away dragging his unfortunate, unconscious underlings (try saying that three times fast) behind him Ririka came over and told me I was fired. She couldn't risk being associated with me due to Captain Morgan being around and on a war path. I told her I understood and went up to my room to pack.

I had previously bought a small knapsack on my mid-morning break and quietly stuffed the few items I had bought into the pack. Three outfits, my coat, and a couple of other knicknacks I had purchased. A compass, a miniature sewing kit, a mini first aid kit, three blank notebooks, a drawing notebook, and a few pens and pencils.

The drawing pad was for my hobby. I wasn't a great artist but I could draw some things. Like people's faces for instance. I was pretty good at scenery too. I just couldn't draw animals. Or people's bodies. The limbs always turned out awkward and disproportional. The notebooks were going to be used to write down how my life had been going. A diary so to speak, without all the whining usually found in diaries. First aid kit was self explanatory. And I was a poor sewer but I could repair small tears and rips, which would save me money instead of having to buy new clothes frequently. The compass was about useless without a map though. I would need to get one before I left.

I didn't really know how I was going to use the first aid kit. Blood freaked me out something fierce. When I took CPR/First Aid in high school I had to leave the room when they showed the video with the guy bleeding. I'm fine with burns, bruises, and small cuts. But anything with more than a pint of blood and I am out of there. Especially if it's spread over a big area like an enormous gash or something. I'm also bad with broken bones. Just the thought of broken bones creeps me out.

I managed to sneak out of the bar with no more problems. But I caught Luffy watching me out of my peripheral vision, before he left to get Zoro to join him. I brushed it off.

I sighed as I walked down the street neatly avoiding the other street travelers. There was so many more people than the anime had shown.

That's another thing. I had only really watched the first thirty or so episodes, so I didn't really know what was going to happen. I wasn't going to be very useful if I joined. I only knew as much as I did because of fanfics that followed the story line closely or from watching scenes on youtube. Not something to inspire confidence in my own knowledge.

Did I really want to join anyway?

Sure a bunch of it seemed like fun but I would be in constant danger of losing life and limb. Not to mention I didn't want to even think about what my parents would say if they found out I became a pirate and got a bounty. They would probably flip. My brothers would probably laugh and think it's a joke, after all I was the goody-two-shoes of the family. Never drink, never smoke, never stay out past curfew...

Wow. Now that I think about it...I was a total stick in the mud. I never went to parties, I never stayed out late, I preferred reading alone in my room to hanging out with a group of friends. Not that I had that many friends to begin with. I was just too introverted to make the kind of friends I wanted. I had friendly acquaintances but no friends that I could tell all my secrets to .

I shook the thought off. I wasn't really needed on the crew. I didn't have any special skills to add to the group that someone else couldn't do. Sure I could sing but Brook would fill that role later on. And I could draw somewhat but Ussop was better. And I could swim but so could any of the other crew members who weren't devil fruit users. I had no battle experience or skill that made me unique. At best I would just be a hanger-on. At worst I was a liability.

I shook the thought away. No way was Luffy going to invite me to join anyway. I wasn't special or cool enough.

I shook away the sudden sadness that came with that thought and continued towards the docks, humming gently to myself. Before I realized it I was singing under my breath softly.

"Yohohoho Yohohoho. Yohohoho Yohohoho. Yohohoho Yohohoho. Yohohoho Yohohoho. Going to deliver Bink's sake! Following the sea breeze, riding on the waves! Far across the salty deeps, the merry evening sun! Painting circles in the sky, birds singing along! Farewell to the harbour, to my old hometown! Let's all sing out with a DON, as the ship sets sail! Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray, as we all set sail to the ends of the sea.~" I sang softly to myself as I drifted along the dock.

"Hey! You!" Luffy's unmistakable voice yelled out.

"Me?" I asked turning to look at him surprised by the sudden yell.

"You're a good singer. Join my crew." He demanded with a huge grin spreading across his face. It sort have looked like the smiley on facebook when you put a colon then a capital 'D'. I was going to call it the "D"- grin for shortness sake.

"Nani?! I can't even fight." I protested halfheartedly, and he obviously sensed that my protest was weak.

"You'll learn." He replied easily with another huge "D"- grin on his face.

"B-but!" I tried to protest again. The protest was even weaker than the first one.

"Just hurry up." Zoro's smooth calm baritone said from behind me. When had he gotten there anyway? I turned to look at him. He towered over me at five-nine, five-ten compared to my measly five-four. His eyes were narrowed in irritation and seriousness. Apparently he felt if he was going to suffer being forced to be a pirate I would too.

"Uh. Hai." I agreed somewhat reluctantly. I wasn't feeling like I was cut out to be a pirate.

"Good." Zoro said easily grabbing me by my knapsack and depositing me in Luffy's small dingy. I tripped as my feet went from solid ground to the swaying motion of the boat's planks. I fell backwards onto my ass.

"What the hell?" I demanded irritated that he had lifted me like I was a bag he could move however he wanted.

He gave me a glare and seeing as he was now even taller than before, I quickly dropped the subject and looked away.

Luffy laughed boisterously.

They hopped on after me and soon the ship was slowly pulling out into the open water. I felt slightly sick with the swaying motion. I had only been on a boat once, a ferry from New Jersey to the Statue of Liberty then to New York, and this ship was much slower and much less steady than it had been.

"Luffy!" The pink haired boy, Coby called from the shore. "Thank you very much! This marine will never forget you!"

"I've never heard of a marine thanking a pirate before." Zoro observed with a large grin that looked more like a smirk than anything else.

"We'll meet again, Coby!" Luffy shouted back to shore waving as the wind pulled the boat further away from shore.

"Good-bye... oniichan! oneechan!" Rika called from beside her mother. I was surprised she had said good-bye to me too. I wasn't her favorite person.

"Good-bye, Hikari! Good luck finding your home!" Ririka called out after a short beat of silence.

"Salute!" The new marine captain yelled. And as he said the whole base of marines saluted as we pulled out of the harbor.

"See ya!" Luffy yelled still waving like mad.

"Now we're on our way to becoming pirates." Luffy stated excitedly holding his hat on his head as the wind pushed against it.

"Looks like it's going to be one hell of an adventure." Zoro said with another smirk-looking-grin.

"I'm going to get killed the first fight we have." I sighed depressedly.

"No. I won't let you." Luffy said turning to look at me.

"You can't be everywhere at once captain. It's not physically possible." I stated. "By the way, my name is Hikari."

Luffy did the "D"-grin and pointing a finger at his own chest. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy."

"Roronoa Zoro." Zoro answered the unasked question leaning back against the side of the boat lazily. Apparently if it wasn't a fight or training it wasn't worth his attention.

There was silence for a minute or two then as Luffy looked out onto the ocean his face slid into a semi-serious expression. "I'm going to be the Pirate King."

Zoro's smile shifted into a thoughtful frown. "You say that a lot. Any reason for that?"

"Nope. No reason." He said. "But... I made a vow... to that man. To form an amazing crew... To find the world's greatest treasure... And become the Pirate King!" He looked up twisting his straw hat on his head more firmly.

"This straw hat knows it all!"

Zoro turned to face the side. "I see." The small smile that had been on his face before had returned and was even bigger than before.

"Alright, let's go! Grand Line... here I come!" He shouted staring into the setting sun.

I giggled at how enthusiastic he was.

"Hikari?" he suddenly asked about ten minutes later.

"Uh hai?" I asked, slipping slightly into the little bit of Japanese I did know.

"Sing something!" he called out.

"Hmm." I thought out loud. What song would be good for this.

"We were strangers starting out on a journey.

Never dreaming what we'd have to go through.

Now here we are.

And I'm suddenly standing.

At the beginning with you."(1)

I sang for almost an hour nonstop before I could finally go to sleep. I had sang songs from most of the Disney films I knew, the one's that fit the situation. And then continued onto some of my favorite country songs that didn't mention modern technology.

The next morning dawned bright and early with the sun glaring off of the smooth blue sea, shining right into my eyes.

I groaned wordlessly and tried to roll over to face away from the sun.

"Get off." a grumpy voice demanded kicking out and sending me to the other side of the boat. "Itai. That hurt, asshole." I grumbled sitting up rubbing my face. I had been using Zoro's calves as pillows and when he kicked out it had sent me flying.

"Don't sleep on me."

I glared at him wordlessly before looking away with a huff.

"I'm hungry." Luffy complained from his side of the boat as he leaned over the water dangerously. He was a devil fruit user, which meant any water was dangerous because the fruits turned them into hammers in the water. They sunk like an anchor.

"When will we reach land?" Zoro asked.

"Who knows... we go where the wind and sea takes us." Luffy replied carelessly. "Will we reach land? Well, I'm sure we will... someday..."

"You haven't been steering?" I demanded irritatedly.

"Isn't it strange that you want to become the Pirate King and yet you don't have any navigation skills?" Zoro demanded.

"It's not strange. I just drift in the sea." Luffy turned to look at Zoro out of the corner of his eye. "You too... aren't you a pirate hunter of the sea?"

"I don't recall ever being a pirate hunter. I went out to sea looking for a man, but got lost and couldn't return to my village. I had no choice but to hunt pirates for the reward."

"What, so you were just lost."

"Don't say it like that!" Zoro yelled his eyes going completely white like in the anime.

My eye twitched. I hope my face didn't look like that when I expressed emotions. But on the other hand if I used the puppy dog eyes it would be really effective...

A wave came from under Zoro's side of the ship and rocked the boat violently. Luffy's hat flew up and rolled along the sail before Zoro caught it and handed it back to Luffy. I, of course, only noticed this with a small corner of my mind. The rest of my mind was concentrating on dragging my ass out of the water where I had fallen with the sudden rocking of the boat.

I grumbled angrily under my breath as I finally flopped back on the boat. My clothes clung to my body tightly, and streams of water flowed down my face, arms and legs to pool underneath me. My hair hung limply in front of my face and I brushed it behind my ears and out of my face impatiently.

I frowned. I did NOT pout. As I sat down cross legged waiting for my clothes to dry out. Because there was no way on this green earth that I was going to change in front of two teenage guys.

"What happened to you?" Zoro asked turning to look at me after he got done talking to Luffy about his past.

"I was knocked into the water." I grumbled irritated that he couldn't figure out himself. It wasn't like I was going to jump in the water for fun or anything, was it?

**"So you claim."**

'Oh shit. You're back. And that last thought was to myself. Not to you.'

**"Oh I can listen to whatever you think. It just takes more concentration on my part if you aren't thinking the thoughts to me."**

And the voice in my head had, within a minute, made this day even worse than it had been shaping up to be. I had fallen in the water, missed most of Luffy's story, and now the voice in my head was able to listen to all of my thoughts instead of just the ones I thought to him.

"I'm hungry." Zoro's complaint broke through my depressed musings.

Luffy looked up and Zoro followed his lead.

"A bird, huh."

A smile spread across Luffy's face. "Let's eat that bird!"

"Huh? How?" Zoro looked back down at Luffy.

"Leave it to me."

"You do realize that if you can see it from all the way down here it's probably huge right?" I interrupted.

I was ignored.

"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" His hands latched onto the mast and propelled himself at the bird. And just as I said the bird was so big it managed to catch Luffy's huge, hard head in its beak.

"Ahh! Help me!" Luffy called. I slapped my forehead. That moment deserved the respect of a face-palm.

"You dumb ass! What are you playing at!" Zoro yelled angrily, grabbing both oars and starting to row hard.

"Help me!" Luffy repeated either ignoring or not hearing what Zoro said.

Zoro was rowing for several minutes when a group of three guys in the water came into view.

"Hey! Please stop!" the guy with the black hat yelled throwing his hands up in the air and waving frantically. "You on the boat, stop!"

"Castaways...at a time like this..." Zoro grumbled still rowing hard.

"I'm not stopping the boat, just jump on."

The so-called castaways' eyes widened and as the boat plowed past where they had been they grabbed the side and scrambled in.

"Ha. You actually got on." Zoro said still rowing like his life depended on it. I was standing by the mast with one arm wrapped around it to keep my balance.

"Are you trying to kill us?!" the castaways yelled in stereo.

"Hey stop this boat. We're the crew of Buggy the Clown. We're taking over this ship." the lead one with the black hat demanded holding his sword toward Zoro.

They completely ignored my presence and I took the opportunity to knock carrot-top and gold anchor necklace over the head.

Zoro then quickly beat up the leader without even pulling his swords.

While necklace guy was down I quickly removed said necklace and took it for myself. That idiot didn't deserve good jewelry, especially because he couldn't even keep it. If I didn't take it somebody else would. Plus...what was the use of being a pirate if you couldn't take stuff from enemy pirates?

Soon Zoro had set them to work.

"Nice." I mumbled studying the golden necklace. I squeezed it between my fingers. It didn't bend much so it wasn't worth much. Gold is a rather malleable metal, pure gold you could mold with your hands. This was probably mostly a mix of steel with a gold coating. Something to make you appear rich at a distance without requiring you to actually be rich.

"Why do you want that tacky thing?" Zoro asked glancing at me.

"Because I don't have any jewelry at all. Plus this isn't that bad. It's mostly steel but there's a coating of gold, to make the necklace appear expensive." I explained clipping the necklace around my own neck, and then pulling my hair out from under it to hide the chain in the back.

"Sorry I asked." he mumbled. "Women." he scoffed under his breath.

The Buggy Pirates laughed nervously. "Who would've thought that you were the famous pirate hunter, Zoro!" the leader of the three said. "Please forgive us!" They yelled the last part in unison.

"Because of you, I lost sight of my friend. Anyways, just keep rowing straight."

They made a grunt of agreement.

"That Luffy should be able to take care of himself if he gets on land."

"But what should we do now?"

"Right, we can't let Captain Buggy know that a girl took our boat and treasure."

"Who is this Buggy you're talking about?" Zoro asked.

"You don't know anything about Buggy the Clown?"

"Never heard of him." Zoro answered.

"He's the captain of our pirate gang. With the strength of the devil's fruit, he is one of a kind. In any case he is a very fearsome man."

I snorted rudely. "Buggy is weak compared to other pirates. He's too chicken to even sail the seas anymore because of his weakness to water."

"How dare you!" The leader of the three demanded.

I ignored them and turned to Zoro. "Buggy was a cabin boy for Gol D. Roger, along with his more famous counterpart Shanks. Buggy swallowed an Akuma no Mi accidentally when he was trying to steal it to sell to the highest bidder. The fruit he swallowed is called the Chop Chop Fruit. It makes it possible for him to section himself and control the individual parts without the rest of the body attached. In other words if you cut off his arm you would have to worry about the arm attacking you from behind while the whole body got you from the front." I explained.

Zoro nodded thoughtfully.

"Your best bet would be to knock him into the water somehow, wait for him to become weak before dragging him out. Or you know, seastone works just as well if you can hit him with it." I continued.

"Shut up Girl." The leader of the three demanded.

I turned to glare at him. Apparently my glare was a lot scarier than I thought because he passed out in fright.

I blinked at the unconscious man several times but shrugged it away. Zoro stared at me and had the feeling he wasn't just going to shrug it away like I did.

The other two Buggy Pirates looked between me and their unconscious leader, before going back to rowing as fast as they could, almost as if they thought they could get away from me if they rowed fast enough.

We reached land about half an hour later. The men dropped exhausted against the side as we hopped out. Just as we were getting out a row of houses exploded violently.

"What was that explosion?" Zoro asked.

"It's Buggy-sama's Buggy Bomb."

"Buggy Bomb?" A sly grin slid on Zoro's face.

I vaguely wondered how Buggy would react if I did the Buggy thing. You know the one where you writ on your four fingers and have a picture of a bug on that palm then on the other palm have a little smudge of ink. You go THIS. IS. show a picture of the bug and say Buggy. Buggy says HI. THIS IS buggy when a car goes by. slap hands together than show the smudge. You know that thing. My cousin did that to our one art teacher whose name was Mr. Buggy, and he got a detention for it.

I shook the thought away and grabbed Zoro around the wrist and pulled him towards the bar that the Buggy Pirates were using as a base.

"Would you let go of me?!" Zoro finally yelled irritated.

"No. You'll get lost. You could get lost going in a straight line." I insulted.

"Why you..." He growled.

"Just shut up. Luffy's most likely in trouble." I said rushing to the bar. I didn't really have any fighting skills so I had no clue what I was doing. Probably running to my death. I needed to get a seastone lined weapon or something similar. Maybe learn to use my Haki or something. Did I even have Haki considering I wasn't from this world?

Zoro ran ahead of me as soon as we reached the bar and I heard the sound of metal cutting through flesh as he defended Nami from the three pirates after her.

I didn't see what happened next but I could hear the fight go on for a couple of minutes before the sound of a cannon going off ended the fight. Then Zoro hopped down hefting a heavy cage with Luffy in it. I noticed that he didn't have an injury. He had obviously taken my advice seriously. Good.

(1) At the Beginning from Anastasia

**A/n: Not as long as the last one but I just couldn't write anymore in this chapter. It just wasn't coming to me.  
**


	3. Zoro vs Cabaji, Luffy vs Buggy

I ran along side Zoro and waited until he dropped the cage in front of the Pet Food store that belonged to Shu-Shu and his deceased owner. I reached up to my hair grabbing a hair pin. I hummed "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel under my breath as I gently wiggled the hair pin back and forth in the lock. I felt more than heard a tumbler click, then a few minutes later another and then finally several more minutes later the last one clicked and the lock sprung open.

I smiled with satisfaction and un-threaded the lock from the cage throwing it to the side.

**"I didn't know you could pick locks."** Rai said wonderingly.

'I always lose the keys to my diary. My brothers actually used a screw to get into my diary once, so I had to learn how to open it without damaging the lock permanently.'

"I didn't know you could pick locks, that's so cool!" Luffy cheered slightly echoing Rai.

I just smiled at him. I didn't know if they even had diaries here so I wasn't going to mention them.

"Looks like I wasted time getting that key then, huh?" Nami said from behind us.

I turned to look at her and nodded as an after thought.

She was prettier then she was portrayed in the anime. Her short orange hair was a tad longer, and twice as glossy as the anime made it appear. Her eyes weren't the black like in the anime either. They were a deep chocolate brown that went with her hair really well.

Now that I thought about it all the guys looked different than the anime. Luffy was a little more filled out than the anime showed him as. The anime portrayed him as a very gangly teen but he was actually very lithe even if he was ridiculously tall and had long limbs. His hair was still messy and black but his eyes were dark brown instead of just black like the anime.

Zoro was also different. His hair was a shade lighter than in the anime and his eyes were the same green as his hair, which was odd in and of itself. He was also much more muscular. He looked like a serious body builder.

I wondered why it was that they appeared different. Maybe they were just more real here than in the anime?

"Hey it's our navigator." Luffy said.

"I ain't your navigator. I'd never stoop so low as to join a pirate crew." Nami sneered sounding like a snooty rich girl.

"What's wrong with pirates?" Luffy asked.

"Most pirates pilage, loot, and otherwise ransack towns." I inserted boredly as I sat on top of the now useless cage. Luffy had vacated as soon as the lock dropped off.

"They do?" Luffy sounded almost cute when he was absolutely clueless.

"They do." I answered firmly.

"Weird." Luffy said. "I just figure that a pirate is free. And the pirate with the most freedom is the Pirate King." He sounded sort of smart when he said that.

Apparently he had surprised Nami too. She only thought pirates were monsters who did above mentioned pirate activities.

"Tch." Zoro snorted.

"What's with the dog?" Luffy suddenly asked turning to look at the small white dog who was sitting a still as a statue in front of the pet food store with his tongue hanging out stupidly.

The dog stared at him as he got closer.

Luffy pulled at the skin around his right eye and the left side of his lip out making a funny face.

The dog didn't even twitch.

"Is it dead?" Luffy reached forward and jabbed it roughly right in between the eyes with his pointer finger.

The dog reacted at that and soon Luffy was rolling around on the ground trying to remove an angry dog from his face.

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go you damned dog." He growled rolling across the ground.

"Don't you realize the situation we're in?" Zoro demanded angrily from his seated position.

"What? You're not injured. Luffy's not trapped in a cage. I have not been placed in direct combat, which would have ended disastrously. I don't see the problem." I said cheerfully.

"Buggy's probably pissed off and I don't have anyway to fight him because of that stupid devil fruit power. And Luffy is losing to a dog. I doubt he'd have a chance against a pirate. Even if he is a clown." Zoro scoffed.

"You know. I always found clowns creepy." I mentioned vaguely.

"You're afraid of clowns?" He asked sounding scornful.

"Nah. Fear implies that I freeze up when I come face to face with one. They just creep me out. All that smiling is unnatural."

"You would know wouldn't you?" he mumbled under his breath. I don't think I was supposed to hear him.

"I'm sorry could you repeat that last part?" I asked sweetly, even an idiot could tell answering would not be in his best interest. Unfortunately for Zoro, he is braver than he is smart.

"I said: 'you would know wouldn't you?'."

"Are you saying I'm unnatural or I smile too much?"

"Both."

I growled at that and before he could react I smacked him over the back of the head then dodged out of the retaliation zone.

Luffy laughed obnoxiously at that and Zoro glared at me clenching his hands on the hilt of one of his black handled swords.

At least he wasn't coming after me with Wado. The white handled sword was called Wado Ichimonji from what I remembered. It was one of the O Wazamono Grade Swords. Which meant it was extremely strong and nearly unbreakable. Using that would mean he was serious. At least he wasn't really considering killing me yet.

I didn't remember the names of the other two swords but I knew they were destroyed in his fight with Mihawk, and he would get one called Kitetsu and I couldn't remember the name of the other one. I knew Kitetsu was supposed to be cursed though.

"What are you kids doing to ShuShu?!" the old man that had a poodle looking hair cut demanded.

I looked over to see the dog biting Luffy once more for simply being there and being annoying.

"Nothing. He's attacking our captain though." I said watching with a strange fascination. It was odd seeing Luffy letting himself be bit by a dog. If he was being serious he could send the dog flying with barely any effort but he didn't really want to hurt the dog.

"Not mine!" Nami declared obstinately.

"How did I get stuck working for this guy?" Zoro muttered piteously.

"You were going to be executed by an idiot son." I reminded helpfully.

"Thanks a lot." he growled.

"No problem." I gave him a large smirk.

"Shut up Ginger. You have no soul." Zoro insulted. (A/n: I have absolutely nothing against Gingers by the way.)

"I'm not a Ginger. Nami is a Ginger. My hair is red thank you very much. And it isn't like you have room to talk Moss-head." I returned easily.

"Shut up, Red." Nami returned.

"It's Hikari." I returned. "And at least my hair doesn't clash with my wardrobe as much as yours does."

"You wanna go bitch?" Nami finally returned.

"I'd love to have a battle of wits with you but I don't fight against opponents who are unarmed." I smirked thinking she wouldn't be able to come up with a return for that one.

"I'm not as dumb as you look." Nami returned.

"No you're dumber." I retorted.

"It's too bad stupidity isn't painful. You would've died of pain a long time ago." Nami stated glaring angrily.

"I'd go a lot slower than you would. If ignorance is bliss you must be orgasmic." I returned hiding a grin. I never get to use my sarcastic side because I cared too much about what people thought of me but I was having a blast letting it all out against Nami.

"If you two are done we're going to fight Buggy now." Zoro said blandly as he past us.

"Huh?" We both said at the same time before turning to glare at each other.

We had apparently completely missed the fight between Mouji and Luffy. How we managed that I had no clue. But ShuShu's shop was still in place and not damaged at all. We had to have been extremely loud to miss all the commotion.

I shrugged the thought away. I didn't really care all that much. I already knew what happened before my interference. Apparently I had changed the story line some.

I followed the group at a more sedate pace and arrived just in time to see Cabaji blow fire in Zoro's face to try to get the upper hand.

Cabaji was a weirdo wearing a blue and white striped scarf over his mouth with long dark hair with a shade of green in it, riding a unicycle. He had pulled the scarf down in order to breath out fire. He sort of reminded me of a less attractive, weaker version of Itachi Uchiha from Naruto. Only Itachi wouldn't have been caught dead on a unicycle nor would he ever be so weak as to underestimate his opponent and overestimate himself.

The fight between Zoro and Cabaji went a lot like the anime except Zoro didn't spend as much time on the ground in pain. Zoro had instantly went to three sword style instead of using only two swords like he had started the fight in the anime.

Nami ran off to get her gold. I was tempted to follow her so she didn't stiff us on the map. After all she didn't see how honorable Luffy was because ShuShu's treasure hadn't been destroyed because he had been free of the cage.

"The Buggy Pirate Crew was defeated by a couple of thieves." Cabaji moaned weakly as he fell of his unicycle heavily injured.

"Not thieves. Pirates." Zoro said leaning up against one of the abandoned houses.

"I'm going to sleep Luffy." he stated before do as he claimed.

"You guys are pirates?" Buggy said incredulously.

"Yeah, we're going to the Grand Line." Luffy told him cheerfully and without a care in the world.

"That's not a place you can just casually go, fool." Buggy scoffed. "Even if you do enter the Grand Line what are you going to do? Go site seeing?" He laughed at his own joke.

"Become the Pirate King." Luffy said in his usual blunt determined fashion.

Buggy's laughter cut off as he turned angrily. "Stop fooling around, you idiot."

"At least he's not wearing make-up." I scoff under my breath.

"If you're going to be Pirate King then I'm god!" Buggy continued boastfully. "The one who will become the Pirate King and own all the treasure in the world is me! Stop dreaming!"

"You talk to much." Luffy said pulling his arm back for his usual Gum Gum Pistol attack. "Just bring it on."

"When I look at your straw hat, it reminds me of that man and it pisses me off. That despicable redheaded bastard. It almost pisses me off as bad as seeing her red hair." He glared towards me.

I looked at him for a second before using my right hand to pull my right bottom eyelid down and stuck out my tongue at him.

"Redhead? Did you say redheaded? Do you know Shanks?"

"So what if I do?"

"Where is he now?"

"Well... Maybe I know where he is, maybe I don't."

"You don't remember? Are you an idiot?" Luffy asked bluntly.

"Wow. Pot meet kettle. I think you'll get along really well." I muttered under my breath one more.

"You're the idiot!" Buggy yelled his eyes going completely white like anime characters' do when they're angry.

"Like I would tell you something you want to know." He lifted his knives threateningly. "I'm not that nice of a guy."

"Well then. I'll beat it out of you." Luffy claims.

Buggy laughed at him. "You'll be dead before you get to ask."

He kicked his foot against the ground and a blade popped out of the tip of his clown shoes. "Rubber can't bounce knives back."

"Yep, not possible." Luffy agreed easily.

I seriously hoped I would be able to teach him to at least dodge questions if he couldn't avoid answering them.

"Chop Chop Crackers!" He threw his whole hands towards Luffy who jumped into the air to dodge. "If you go up, I can predict your movement!" His hands returned to his arms. Only for him to fling all the knives, minus his hands, at Luffy.

"Who says?" Luffy called as he used his rubber power to stretch out is arm and pull himself out of harms way."

The knives returned to Buggy like boomerangs. They must've been a part of his body. Devil fruits also alter the clothes a person is wearing. Otherwise Logia users would reappear without clothes when they dispersed into their elements. So the knives must've gotten a bit of power like the rest of his body to return to the main piece. In this case it was probably Buggy's head as the main control center.

"Interesting." Buggy said.

"You too. Gum Gum Pistol." Luffy returned throwing a fist towards Buggy.

Buggy dodged to the side avoiding the punch. "That's an interesting skill." He complimented. "But it left you wide open." He clenched his fist around one of his daggers. "I'll chop it off!"

I had an odd urge to shout 'That's what she said!' but I held it back. I didn't want the homicidal clown to aim at me instead.

"Gum Gum...

"Chop Chop Emergency Escape!"

"...Sickle!" Luffy's attack missed because Buggy detached his head.

"And I thought clowns were creepy before." I muttered to myself, but apparently Buggy heard me.

"I've been ignoring you. I'm such a bad host." Buggy said tauntingly.

I felt my eyes widen. "Uh. It's not a problem. You just keep Luffy company. I'm fine by myself." I suggested quickly waving my hands in front of me.

"Chop Chop Cannon!" A hand with three daggers flew towards me.

I jumped to the side rolling to make sure I was completely clear of the attack.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" A voice from the rubble of the tree yelled.

Buggy quickly dodged the attack but his focus wasn't on me anymore and that was all that mattered.

"I think I'm just going to wait by Zoro!" I called out to Luffy. "Kick his ass!" I called out in an overly perky voice before I bolted to hide behind Zoro's muscular frame.

The rest of the fight was canon. Nothing really new happened.

I winced when I saw Luffy's hat damaged. And laughed when Luffy tortured Buggy's feet to get him to leave Nami alone. I really laughed when Buggy reassembled as a midget.

We left the island chased by townsfolk after Luffy sent Buggy flying.

Nami tried to drown Luffy but I put a quick stop to that by telling her technically the treasure was Luffy's by right of conquest and if he had wanted to he could have simply beat her and taken the treasure for himself.

She shut up after that. She had seen how Luffy beat Buggy and wasn't willing to fight him. She was a coward at heart. A gready coward but a coward all the same. She would rather sneak around then fight a fair battle. Otherwise she would have went after bounties instead of simply stealing from pirates.

**A/n: Sorry to all Nami lovers out there but I hate her. She really gives females a bad name. Most anime women do. They were after all created by men, and they mostly feature the most extreme bad traits women could possess. Namely harpy voices, physical weakness, and love of clothes/money/jewelry. Taken to the extreme.**


	4. More Strings and The Honorable Liar

I groaned lightly rolling over and burying my face in my pillow. Which was harder then I remembered.

Wait.

I was on a boat with Zoro and Luffy, Nami was on the other boat by herself. Where did I get a pillow?

I opened my eyes a crack and stared at the white tee-shirt in front of me before closing my eyes again. Maybe it would just go away if I pretended it didn't exist.

A snort and a grunt left my 'pillow' and an muscular arm clenched around me reflexively pulling me flush against said 'pillow'.

Fate hates me.

**"I don't blame her. You're too loud in the morning. I need my sleep too."**

'Oh you're back again? What do you mean you need sleep? You're a voice in my head. And how do you know Fate's female anyway.'

**"I need sleep, period. And Fate's a bitch. If she was a male she'd be a bastard."**

'Fine don't tell me. And if you say so.'

I squirmed trying to escape Zoro's grasp. Who would've guessed he was a cuddler? Zoro's arm tightened around me and I "oof"-ed as a bunch of air was knocked out of me.

'Damn it. How do I get out of this?'

**"Enjoy it. I'm having fun laughing at your predicament."**

'That's enough from the Peanut Gallery.' I finally returned, as I caught my breath. Apparently the mental voice is linked somewhat to the physical voice. If I couldn't produce the sound physically I wouldn't be able to make a mental representation of it either.

**"Oh by the way. You have three days before you're in breech of contract."**

'Woah woah woah. What the hell do you mean by that. I didn't even sign the damn thing, let alone read it. How am I supposed to know what sort of crazy shit you put in it?'

**"Section 4, sub section V, point A. Within two weeks of being in the (insert anime here) the contract signer (insert signature here), that's you, must have decided an ability/talent natural to the world to try to obtain and use. Failure to do so will result in said contract breaker being turned into a vegetative state."**

'It'll turn me into a vegetable?! I never even signed the damn contract. It's not legally binding!'

**"Too bad. Choose or become a vegetable."**

'Fine. Haki. I want to be able to use Haki.'

**"Excellent choice. You have three months to become proficient or you'll still become a vegetable."**

'With no instruction?'

**"No one said coming here was without strings. Good luck, Hikari."**

'Rai? Rai? Get back here right now Rai! You can't leave me to solve this problem on my own! I would've chosen something easier if I knew I had to learn it on my own! Rai!'

**"The voice in your head you are trying to reach has been temporarily disconnected from service. Please call back later."** Rai said before falling silent once more.

'You mother-'**"(the rest of this sentence has been censored for younger audiences as well as those with delicate sensibilities.)"**

'Rai you-' **"(As has this sentence.)"**

'RAI!'

"Shihihihihi." Luffy's obnoxious laughter brought me out of my mental rant.

Nami smirked at me from her boat.

"Shut up and get me out of here or I'll sing the most annoying song I know repeatedly until you'll be humming it to yourself all week." I threatened. I wouldn't have minded the position all that much if it hadn't been for the fact Zoro had kicked me last time I had gotten this close to his person.

**"What song is that?"**

'So you're back again? Friday by Rebecca Black.'

**"Oh god. Not that song."** I could hear the shudder in his voice.

'I could always go with the song that never ends or the song that gets on everybody's nerves.' I suggested innocently.

**"You're evil!"**

'And don't forget it.'

"I don't think I will be bothered by annoying songs." Luffy said laughing still.

Nami just shrugged.

Oh I was going to get them for this.

"It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend. Friday, Friday. Getting down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend.~"

"Ugh! Make it stop!" Nami whined.

Luffy was already humming along. "I like it."

I scowled at that. I wanted them both to suffer.

"Nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan-" I had resorted to the Nyan cat song. Not even Luffy could enjoy that.

I continued singing for five minutes before they finally caved. Luffy quickly pulled me out of Zoro's "Cuddle Hold of Doom" (TM).

"As your captain I order you to never sing that song again." Luffy said, his voice unusually serious. In the silence that followed I could hear him humming it under his breath.

"Got it stuck in your head didn't I?"

"Sing something else! Captain's orders!" he said almost cheerfully again.

"The king and his men stole the queen from her bed and bound her in her bones. The seas be ours and by the powers where we will we'll roam. Yo-Ho, all hands. Hoist the colors high! Heave-ho, thieves and beggars never shall we die. Now some have died and some are alive. And others sail on the sea. With the keys to the cage and the devil to pay we lay to fiddler's green.~" I sang out 'Hoist the Colors' from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Zoro woke up at the end of my song and was confused when Luffy and Nami kept sending him smug humorous looks.

I glared at them and sang another song to distract Zoro.

"One minute I'm in Central Park. Then I'm down on Delancey street. From the bow'ry to Saint Mark's. There's a syncopated beat. Said whoo whoo whoo ooh ooh. I'm street wise. I can improvise. Said whoo, whoo, whoo ooh ooh. I'm street smart. I got New York City Heart. Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime. But I've got street savoire faire.~" I sang out loudly, easily distracting Luffy if no one else. Disney songs were easier for me to remember for some reason and they weren't that bad of songs anyway. 'Why Should I Worry' was from Oliver and Company.

A while later Luffy was eating all of the apples. I watched with fascinated horror as he ate them one after another without ever seeming to get full.

"We're never going to make it to the Grand Line like this." Nami said.

Luffy pulled the apple core away from his mouth and looked at it. "I know. I really prefer meat. All we ever eat is fruit." He threw the core into his mouth and I winced as he chomped it and swallowed it.

'I wonder if he knows that apple seeds have trace amounts of that poisonous chemical thing.' I wondered vaguely, unable to remember the name of said poisonous substance.

"Some sake would be nice too." Zoro added only to be whacked in the face with an apple.

"What are you talking about!" Nami demanded angrily even as Luffy reached out to snatch the apple before it landed in the ocean from it's rebound.

Nami threw an apple up in the air then snatched it from the air before it could hit the wood of the deck. "I'm not talking about that! I'm saying the Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world. There will be tons of pirates looking for One Piece and they'll definitely have powerful ships."

"Then just make them our friends." Luffy said carelessly.

"Not only do we lack manpower, but our ship clearly isn't equipped. There's no way we can make it there safely." Nami continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.

"Looks like we still need a chef." Luffy said from his seat on the head of the ship. "And a musician."

"A musician?" Zoro laughed.

"Hikari's a good singer but she needs music to sing to." Luffy said like it explained everything.

I blushed at the compliment. I loved compliments but I had never learned to take them as easily as everyone else seemed to.

"If we head south, there's a small inhabited island. It would be best if we found a good boat there."

"Ahh, time to eat some meat!" Luffy cheered. He had only caught the fact we were near an island.

I shook my head in exasperation. Our captain had a one track mind to be sure.

"Don't forget the sake." Zoro wasn't much better. He had a two tracked mind. Food/Booze and training.

"You guys!" Nami shrieked angrily.

I sighed as I moved to sit cross legged and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply, in the nose out the mouth. In, count 1...2...3...4...5..., Out, count 1...2...3...4...5. Repeat. I had relaxed nearly all of my muscles and had managed to block out all the noise from the rest of the crew.

"HIKARI!" Luffy's voice right next to my ear made me jump, trip backward and fall off the boat with a loud SPLASH!

I was stunned for a second before quickly righting myself and swimming to the surface treading water angrily.

"What was that for!" I yelped angrily.

"Why were you sleeping in such a weird position?"

"I wasn't sleeping Luffy. I was meditating. It helps get rid of stress and makes you more aware of your body." I explained as I scrambled back onto the boat soaking the wood beneath my feet.

"I'm lucky I don't wear white." I complained out loud.

"With the number of times you fall in the water, you're lucky you're not a devil fruit user." Zoro chuckled.

"With the number of times you jump to help me I suppose I am lucky." I sniped back wringing the water out of my hair which had darkened a shade if that was even possible.

It was another hour before we reached the shore of the island Nami had seen on her map.

Luffy leaped out eagerly and the rest of us followed more sedately. Luffy looked around wildly holding his hat to his head. Nami looked thoughtful as she looked around and Zoro was stretching looking like he had just woken up even though he had woken up nearly two hours ago.

I hopped out after them carefully avoiding the water. I was nearly dry from my last tumble into the water. I shook my hair out combing my fingers through it, gently untangling knots before continuing.

"It's been a while since I've been on land." Zoro said.

I nodded in agreement. It had only been a few days but my center of gravity was off because I was used to compensating for the boat's swaying. I made to stand still until I felt that I could walk without looking like some sea-dog that never went on land.

"Ah. So the village is further down that way?" Luffy asked looking down a path that looked like it had been cut from the surrounding stone.

"Although it's just a small village..." Nami trailed off.

"Ooooo, in that case... meat meat meat meat meat." Luffy got in Nami's face with drool trailing down his face. "There should be food in the village."

"Could you not think about food all the time?" Nami asked a vein throbbing in her temple as she turned away from Luffy.

"Careful!" Zoro warned pushing his sword free of the locking mechanism. He looked toward us out of his peripheral vision so he didn't take his eyes away from what had caught his attention. "Someone's here." he looked forward again.

Luffy startled out of his meat haze and Nami looked startled. I wasn't. It must've been because I knew Usopp was going to appear. I shrugged it off.

"Where, where? Where? Where? Where?" Luffy was looking around wildly one hand shielding his eyes so he could see farther without the sun interfering with his vision.

"Watch out!" Zoro yelled as multiple pings sounded, sounding almost like gunshots. Luffy danced out of the way. His feet picking up and dropping like those cartoon shows where the bad guy says dance then shoots at the protagonist's feet. Luffy was looking panicked as he danced out of the way shutting his eyes.

I had a vague thought 'why was he acting so afraid? He's bulletproof.'

"Captain. You do realize you're bulletproof don't you?" I asked as I leaned my head right to miss a stray missile.

"Oh yeah." Luffy stopped moving.

Multiple jolly rogers appeared on the cliff side, from multiple bushes.

"Wow! This is AWESOME!" Luffy shouted out looking at the flags his arms waving excitedly.

"This isn't the time to be in awe." Nami said.

I felt a sweat drop form on the back of my head. "What sort of pirate stays on land?" I asked.

"Buggy stayed on land." Nami pointed out.

"Because he's a coward with a devil's fruit power." I snorted. "He was too afraid to go to the open ocean because he would have to depend on his crew and he doesn't trust them that much."

I don't think Luffy heard me. He was still yelling about how awesome the multiple flags were.

"Hahahaha! I am the leader of the great pirate crew that conquered the village, Usopp!" Usopp appeared with a flag behind him. He laughed from his position on the cliff. "Everyone praises me and calls me Captain Usopp!"

I snorted at that.

"If you're thinking of attacking this village, you should just save your strength. Otherwise, my eighty million men will crush you like a little bug!" He threw his hands out showing off all of the pirate flags that were around him.

"Incredible!" Luffy shouted his jaw dropped.

"I have an idiot for a captain. A brave, loyal, and determined idiot, but an idiot nonetheless." I muttered under my breath. Nami nodded in agreement. Luffy was too busy being in awe and Zoro was too busy staring at Luffy's stupidity to hear me.

"It's a lie." Nami said blandly.

Usopp immediately panicked. "She saw through it."

"See, he said I saw through it." Nami continued.

Usopp was waving around like a noodle. "You saw through it, this is bad."

"What? He was lying?!" Luffy exclaimed looking to Nami for confirmation.

"Damn you. Eighty million might be an exaggeration, but I have many strong and powerful companions!" Usopp tried to recover.

The flags waved up and down in response.

"All three of them?" Nami asked smoothly.

Three kids popped out of the bush, each holding two of the pirate flags. "She found out!" "Ru...Run!" They dropped the flags and high tailed it.

"Hey you guys! Don't run!" Usopp's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he yelled after his retreating followers.

"A pirate that uses pachinko... I've never heard of such a thing." Nami bent down picking up a sandy pinball. She blew the sand off of the pinball.

"Hahahaha!" Luffy laughed joyfully. "You're quite an interesting guy!" He told Usopp.

Usopp took this as an insult. "Hey you! Don't laugh at me! I'm a man of great pride." Usopp loaded his slingshot again, pointing it at Luffy. "Because of my great pride everyone calls me Usopp, the Proud."

"I thought you were Captain Usopp? Or are you lying again?" I asked innocently moving forward to stand by Luffy.

"As you saw earlier, my skills with the pachinko is better than a pistol." Usopp ignored me. I was getting sick of that. It's like because I know things the other characters have to ignore me to keep the story line in check.

"Since you mentioned pistols..." Luffy pushed his straw hat down so it shadowed most of his face.

"Bet you're life on it." Luffy looked up his head still shadowing a third of his face, a smirk plastered across his mouth.

Usopp looked shocked.

"It's not a tool to scare people."

Zoro smirked remembering the story Luffy had told us before Nami joined the crew. He pushed his sword out of it's sheath slightly so it would come free easier if he needed to draw it quickly. It was one of the black and red handled ones, not Wado.

"You're looking at real pirates."

Sweat beaded across Usopp's face as his hand on the sling shot shook slightly. Luffy just stared straight at him.

The pirate flags that had managed to stay up blew over in the wind.

Usopp let the pachinko fall out of the net of the slingshot and dropped to his knees. "As I thought, a true pirate's speech is much more intimidating. Incredible."

Smiles spread across Luffy and Zoro's faces and I felt myself smile along. All three of us aware of the inside joke. Luffy started laughing and Zoro and I followed suit.

"I just repeated what someone said."

"Huh?" Usopp made a small confused sound.

"The pirate I deeply respect, Shanks."

"Sha...Shanks you say?!" Usopp said sounding disbelieving. "The red haired Shanks, you know that great pirate?!"

"Yeah! Yasopp isn't it? Your father's name."

Usopp looked so excited. He leaned forward eagerly and tumbled from his position all the way down to the beach landing first on his head then coming to rest on his back.

He sat up pressing his hands down in front of his half crossed legs. "It's true that Yasopp is my dad's name... But how do you know that?" He looked vaguely like a child wanting to hear a story.

Usopp led us into town after he heard we came for supplies. The store's name was Meshi or something like that.

Luffy ate like a barbarian as usual. Usopp ate hurriedly like the food was going to vanish if he didn't eat rapidly. Nami chewed her food thoroughly and Zoro was more interested in the grog then the meal. I ate my fair share though. I ate mostly fruit and bread because I didn't want to lose my hand on the off chance Luffy aimed for the same piece of meat as I did.

"Pretty good isn't it." Usopp spoke through a half full mouth. I felt it was bad manners but Luffy had much worse manners so I let it go.

"I met him when I was young." Luffy said through a full mouth.

"My father was on Shanks' ship."

"You look just like your father. When I first saw you, I thought you had to be his son." Luffy said.

"Really?" Usopp asked eagerly. "I never thought that my dad would be on such a great ship."

"I don't know what his situation is now, but he's probably still with Shanks. Your father's marksmanship is truly elite. He once shot an apple from a barrel at thirty feet then bragged he could hit the antennae of an ant." Luffy got a dazed look as he remembered the past. "I've heard the story about you so many times I thought my ears would fall off. Yasopp is a great pirate."

"Exactly what I thought!" Usopp said proud of his father. "To disregard his own life and set out to explore the vast and endless sea... I am so proud of my father." Usopp said.

"This makes our discussion much easier. Hey, is there anyone who can sail a ship or acquire a large ship in this village?" Nami asked.

"As you can see, this village is pretty small. I'm very sorry, but there is no way to fulfill your request." Usopp looked away from Nami. He was lying. His body language screamed it.

"What about that mansion on top of the hill?" Zoro asked.

Usopp looked nervous.

"Hey, do you know them?" Nami asked eagerly. "I wonder if we can ask them to give us a little financial support." It was always the money with her.

"You can't go there!" Usopp exclaimed. All of the crew stared at him, but I knew the reason. He wanted to protect Kaya. He wasn't sure if we meant to take the financial support like real pirates or not and he wasn't taking chances with Kaya.

Then he looked almost surprised at what he said. "I...I suddenly remembered that I still have something to do." He looked at the clock on the wall. "I know the owner of this shop quite well so just go ahead and order anything you want. I'll be on my way then." he ran off quickly.

Nami stared after him curiously. "What's going on? Why is he in such a hurry?"

I shrugged and went back to eating. They would find out eventually, I already knew.

"The Usopp Pirate Crew is here!" the three little vegetables exclaimed. I was always confused about which one was which. I knew the green haired one was pepper though.

The store keeper looked up for a second but quickly went back to his newspaper.

"What's going on?" Nami asked looking around the edge of the booth towards the entrance.

"The captain isn't here." The purple haired one stated.

"Don't tell me..." The white haired one said.

"Hey you pirates, what have you done with Captain Usopp?" Pepper demanded.

"What have you done?" All three chorused.

"That was some good meat!" Luffy exclaimed ignoring them completely.

"Meat?!" Purple hair exclaimed as all three hurdled together.

"Don't tell me, the captain was..." white hair started.

Nami looked amused at the situation, she stifled her laughter.

"Wh...what?! What have you done?" Pepper demanded fearfully.

"If you're looking for your captain..." Zoro grinned ominously. "He was...eaten!"

"Ahhh, Hag!" The three kids immediately looked at Nami.

"Why are you looking at me?!"

They fell to the ground and looked towards the ceiling stupidly.

"It's all because you guys are being stupid!" she accused Zoro and Luffy who were laughing their asses off. I snickered slightly.

"It was only a joke." One of the vegetables said relieved as they led us to the mansion on top of the hill.

"It's HUGE!" Luffy exclaimed in awe as he looked at the mansion through the iron fence that circled the property.

"If you can't find the captain around this time, he's probably here." The white haired one, he said his name was Onion, explained.

"What does he come here for?" Luffy asked.

"He comes here to lie." Carrot, the purple haired one explained.

"That's not something he should do!" Nami scolded.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's different. right?" Pepper tried to explain.

"Yeah, it's different." Onion agreed.

"What do you mean by that?" Zoro asked.

"Lady Kaya lives in this mansion and she's very weak. A year ago, her parents died of an illness, and she's been depressed ever since. Despite all the money she has, there was nothing that could cheer her up. That's why the captain makes up outrageous lies to make her laugh. Captain's lying ability is first class. I'm sure you've never heard of a pirate captain like that before."

"What? He's a good guy." Luffy sounded like he couldn't believe lying could be good.

"I like the way he keeps meddling in other people's business." Carrot exclaimed.

"I like the way he overreacts to everything!" Pepper adds.

"I like the way he lies." Onion finished.

"And has that lady cheered up?" Nami asked.

"Yeah she has."

"Good! Then let's go in and ask her for a ship!" Luffy cheered.

"Usopp's the one that cheered her up." Zoro tries to change Luffy's mind. You'd have better luck teaching a goldfish to jump through hoops. Goldfish have a memory span of three seconds, as soon as they learn anything they forget it.

"Getting in is an impossible task."

"There are very large bodyguards guarding the gate at all times."

"Where's Luffy?"

"Up there." I pointed to the straw hat wearing teen who was currently hauling himself up to the top of the metal fence.

"Let's go in and have a look." He said.

"Don't tell me you're..."

Luffy leaned backwards. It was the beginning of his gum gum bazooka.

"Gum Gum...

"He stretched his arm all the way down there!"

"What's going on?!"

The three vegetables were definitely confused.

"Sorry To Intrude!" Luffy finished as if it were a brand new attack instead of just a gum gum bazooka. Everyone but me grabbed on to Luffy as he launched off. I was going to go the safe route and use Usopp's entrance. I snuck around the corner and squeezed in through the hole in the hedge.

I arrived just before the butler did.

"How did you get in here?" Nami demanded turning to me.

"Secret." I teased putting a finger to my mouth in the universal sign of shush.

"You there! What are you doing here?" He demanded. My eyes were caught on his suit. I felt a nearly uncontrollable urge to laugh. The yellow decorations on either side of his suit looked like piles of shit.

"Kurahadol." Kaya whispered.

"You're trespassing..." He pushed his glasses up that weird way. With all of his fingers pointed away from his face and using the edge of the palm to push them up. "and causing trouble here."

"Who is this guy?" Luffy broke the small silence that had fallen after the butler's comment.

**A/n: That's the end of the episode so I thought I'd end it there. Please review guys. I don't think I'm going to make the 50 K by the end of the month but I'm going to try my best. I won't drop the story if I don't make it though so have no fear. **


	5. The Boy Who Cried Pirates

"Excuse them Kurahadol, these people are..." Kaya started to explain.

"You don't need to tell me now," he interrupted pushing his glasses up again, but this time his thumb was used to balance the temple of the right side with all the other fingers pointed outwards. "I will listen to your explanation later."

He moved closer to the group. "For now, I'd like all of you to leave the area at once. Or do you people have something to say?" He asked, not even sounding interested in what we had to say.

"Yeah, we'd like a ship see..." Luffy started excitedly.

"Definitely not!" He was back to pushing up his glasses with the palm of his hand and all fingers pointed outwards.

"Usopp!" He suddenly said.

"Oops." Usopp said climbing onto a limb in view of everyone.

"you're pretty famous in the village, aren't you?"

"Really?" He laughed nervously.

"So, you have faced all kinds of danger before. That's really something for someone of your age."

"You can call me Captain Usopp. That will help spread my name around." Usopp was standing on the branch of the tree and leaning against the trunk with one hand.

"Captain, eh...?" Kurahadol pushed up his glasses in that freaky way again. How many times did he need to adjust his glasses anyways? He obviously needed new ones if they kept slipping like that.

"I've heard stories about your father."

"What?" Usopp glared down at the butler.

"Kurahadol stop this at once." Kaya ordered.

"You are just the son of a low-class pirate!" He exclaimed sounding superior. "Although anything you do won't be much of a surprise, but would you please stop bothering the lady of this house."

"You called my father low-class...?" Usopp growled angrily glaring down at Kurahadol.

"You come from a totally different world from Lady Kaya. Do you want money? How much do you want?"

"That's enough, Kurahadol!" Kaya screamed from her window. "Apologize to Usopp at once!" Kaya was nearly out of the window at this point.

"Hey Kaya, that's dangerous. Be careful." Usopp turned his attention to Kaya.

"Why should I apologize to such a barbaric man, Lady Kaya?" Kurahadol asked pushing his glasses up. "I am only speaking the truth." He said carelessly.

"I do sympathize with you. You must hate your idiotic father, he abandoned you and your mother to look for treasure as a pirate!"

"Kurahadol!" Kaya yelled again.

"You bastard, you better stop insulting my father!" Usopp was furious and it showed on his face. There was no trace of the coward in any of his features.

Usopp jumped off the branch, a small ripe cord letting him glide down to the ground safely.

"Usopp!" Kaya called worriedly before she noticed the cord.

"Why are you so agitated?" Kurahadol taunted. "It's time like these when you should do what you do best: lie. Just say you have nothing to do with your father, or he's not your birth father..."

Before Kurahadol was even finished Usopp's patience snapped. He leaped forward and decked Kurahadol hard knocking him off his feet. "Shut up!"

Kaya covered her mouth horrified at the violence.

The rest of the crew looked shocked that Usopp had the balls to do that.

I smiled. There was a hint of the man Usopp would be.

"Captain!" the veggies called.

Kurahadol rubbed his check before using his other hand to push his glasses up. "See! He immediately turned violent. No wonder they say, 'like father, like son'."

"Shut up!" Usopp roared.

Kurohadol looked frightened as he grit his teeth.

"I'm proud my father is a pirate! He followed his heart and became a brave warrior of the sea. I'm really proud of him! Although it's true that I'm a plain old liar, but a pirate's blood flows within me! That kind of honor is not something that can simply be imitated! For I'm the son of a pirate!"

"Captain..." Carrot muttered.

Kurahadol chuckled. "Pirates are warriors of the sea, eh...? You're pretty naive to have that ideology." Kurahadol pushed himself back to his feet.

"What?!"

"But this does prove barbaric blood flows through your veins. You like to lie and would resort to violence whenever something upsets you. Your ultimate motive is to acquire Lady Kaya's wealth and that's why you get close to her!" Kurahadol accused.

"What are you saying?!" Usopp demanded.

"Whether or not you have any ulterior motives...just the fact that your father is a pirate is proof enough!" Kurahadol was baring his teeth.

"You've insulted him again!" Usopp grabbed Kurahadol by his dress shirt, cocking his fist back getting ready to hit him again.

"Stop it, Usopp!" Kaya yelled.

Usopp pulled back slightly, gritting his teeth to keep control.

"Please don't resort to violence again." She begged. "Kurahadol isn't a bad person. He's only acting that way for me. He's over-protective of me..."

Usopp loosened his grip on Kurahadol's shirt and Kurahadol slapped his hand away.

"Get out of here. Don't ever come close to this house again!" Kurahadol commanded.

"I got the picture. I would've left even if you didn't tell me to." Usopp dropped his fist and started to walk past Kurahadol. "I'll never come back here again!"

"Usopp." Kaya whispered saddened.

"You bastard! Stupid caretaker!" Carrot shouted. "Our captain is not that kind of person!"

"That's right, you idiot!" Pepper added.

"Stupid!" Onion finished.

"STUPID!" Luffy added. Zoro whacked him over the head with his fist.

"Why are you butting in all of a sudden?" Zoro asked.

"Because Kurahadol insulted Yasopp just as much as he insulted Usopp." I answered.

Kurahadol glared at the three vegetables and they immediately ran to hide behind Nami. Zoro was busy holding Luffy back from decking Kurahadol himself.

"What?, You bastard! Let go of me! What the hell?" Luffy shouted trying to get out of Zoro's hold.

"Stop it! Hey!" Zoro complained right back.

"If you don't like it, come and get me! Come on!" Luffy challenged Kurahadol again.

"Will you..." Nami started.

"All of you should leave at once!" Kurahadol interrupted once more.

We all gave him the evil eye as we left.

"Hey where did Luffy go?" Nami asked perched on a wooden fence.

"Beats me. Maybe he went after the captain?" Zoro was leaning against one of the fence posts his arms cradled behind his head and his swords propped up next to him.

I was sitting the next post over from him leaning against it and trying to meditate again. Luffy had interrupted my last meditation. And this time I was sure I wouldn't be falling into the sea if I was startled.

"The Captain should be 'there'." Pepper told Carrot.

"Yeah, at the coast." Carrot agreed. "Whenever he's troubled, he always goes there."

"Want to go check on them?" Nami asked.

"I'll pass." Zoro replied.

"Speaking of which, aren't you guys missing a member?" Nami turned to the two vegetables.

"Ah, Onion!" The chorused.

"He always disappears off somewhere." Pepper stated.

"Then he'll come out of nowhere, screaming." Carrot finished.

Onion appeared at the edge of the road screaming just as he was said to. "It's horrible!"

"See." Carrot said.

"A man walking backwards! A very weird man is walking backwards!" Onion pointed back the way he came.

"Liar!" Both Carrot and Pepper claimed.

"It's true!" Onion yelled towering over the other two's sitting forms. "Look!" He commanded pointing back the way he came.

Everyone turned to see what he was pointing at. I even opened one eye a crack to see what was going on. There was a weirdo doing the moonwalk coming our way.

"Hey! Who called me weird?" The man demanded turning to look at us revealing the fact he was wearing heart shaped glasses. His goatee was curled into a small tube and striped red and black. "I am not weird."

"Liar!" I scoffed.

"Looks like a weirdo to me." Nami agreed.

"That's ridiculous. I'm just a passing hypnotist." He claimed.

"Yes because hypnotists are just so common around here." I scoffed under my breath shutting my eye again. I didn't need to look at him anymore. His appearance was giving me a headache.

"A hypnotist?!" Onion asked. "Wow!"

"Can you demonstrate something?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, show us something!" Carrot ordered.

"What?!" He turned to look at the vegetables. "You must be joking. Why should I show my hypnotic skills to a bunch of strangers I just met? Listen now, just stare into this ring." He suddenly did a one-eighty in personality.

"He still does it." Zoro said incredulously. He should really get over how stupid people were here.

"After I say, 'One, Two, Jango', you will fall asleep." He started swinging the ring back and forth in front of them. "Got it? Here I go..."

The three vegetables watched the ring attentively.

"One! Two! Jango!"

Suddenly all three were snoring on their backs. The ring still swinging gently in the weirdo's hand.

"Hey, what the hell was that supposed to be?!"

"That was stupidity catching." I snorted going back to my meditation.

"What are you doing?" Pepper asked, he had woken up shortly after he had fallen asleep. Apparently hypnotism is no match for a kid's energy.

"Meditating."

"What's that?" Carrot asked.

"When you close your eyes and concentrate on nothing."

"How do you concentrate on nothing?" Onion demanded.

"Practice."

The rest of the group was silent for almost half an hour.

"Captain sure is late." Carrot said pacing away from the group.

"So is Luffy." Zoro added.

"Maybe the shock was just too great." Onion inserted.

"Whenever he gets upset, he always heads for the coast and stares at the ocean." Pepper told us.

"Huh?" All three said looking at the road that led to the south coast. "Captain!"

I opened my eyes and watched as Usopp raced towards us running full speed.

"What's this? Isn't Luffy supposed to be with him?" Zoro asked turning to stare at him too.

"Captain!" The vegetables cheered only to be blown off as Usopp raced right by them.

"Where's Luffy? Didn't he go to the coast with you?" Nami tried to ask but Usopp just kept running.

"You suppose he's still angry about... having his father insulted and all?" Nami asked Zoro staring after Usopp.

"Beats me..." Zoro answered as we all watched Usopp race down the winding road towards the village.

"No! His expression was different." Carrot protested.

"Ah, something must've happened!" Pepper added.

"What could have changed his expression like that?" Onion asked.

"Hey, how do we get to that coast?" Zoro asked turning to the vegetables.

"You guys think that something happened?" The question came from one of the vegetables who were now hurdled up like a football team before a play.

"Yeah something must've happened at the coast." Pepper nodded.

"The Usopp Pirate crew will take action once again!" Onion added.

"I got that already, just tell me how to get there!" Zoro exclaimed aggravated.

Nami jumped down from the fence. I stood up, stretching from my meditation position which had caused my legs to fall asleep.

It took us about ten minutes to walk to the cliffs.

"This is it."

"Captain's always come here to heal his wounded heart."

All three vegetables spread out in a triangle shape looking around.

"Brother Strawhat isn't here though." Pepper said.

Nami stepped right up to the edge. "This place is pretty steep."

"Nami, be careful there." Zoro warned.

Nami took a small step back but looked down. "Lo...look!" She exclaimed. "Over there!"

Zoro moved to look over the edge too. I stayed back.

"What?"

"It's him!"

"It's Brother Strawhat!"

"It's his butt."

We made our way down to the beach. I was doing my best not to look down.

"Luffy, why are you here?" Nami asked.

"He fell !"

"And died on impact!"

"That's why Captain was..."

Luffy was practically bent in half. His butt was up in the air, his legs sprawled out behind him. His torso was perpendicular to the ground and his arms were spread out to either side of him.

"Quiet!" Zoro hissed.

The sound of snoring made itself known as all of the other sounds filtered out.

"This guy." Zoro smirked. Poking Luffy in the rear with one of his sheathed swords.

Luffy's palm twitched.

"Hmph. Amateur." I scoffed at Zoro. "Luffy! Zoro's eating all of the meat!"

"My meat!" Luffy exclaimed waking up instantly.

The vegetables and Nami jumped back surprised. They had thought he was dead.

After he looked around like a maniac he turned to me. "That wasn't nice, Hikari."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"OH! That butler guy is actually Captain Kuro and he plans to kill Kaya to get her money!" Luffy suddenly remembered out loud.

"By the way, how did you end up snoozing off here?" Zoro asked Luffy completely ignoring the fact that I had superior waking-people-up abilities.

"About that..." Luffy said grinning hugely. "I thought I was still on the cliff all along... Now how in the world did I get down here...?"

"As we thought, Kurahadol is an evil person!" Carrot shouted.

"No wonder he was so creepy." Pepper agreed.

"This must be the reason why Captain ran like crazy towards the village!" Onion added popping into the conversation between the other two veggies.

"Aren't you guys fortunate to have heard all this beforehand?" Nami asked rhetorically. "Now we can escape before the attack."

"Yeah, that's right!" Carrot exclaimed. "We should make a run for it too!"

"Yeah, we should just take important stuff."

"Anyways, we should hurry!" All three exclaimed at once as they ran off.

"They won't believe him." I said from my position a little bit away from the group.

"What did you say?" Nami demanded.

"The villagers won't believe Usopp. He's been lying to them for years. Haven't you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?" I asked.

"No." Nami, Luffy, and Zoro said bluntly.

"Once, in a small village there lived a little boy called Peter. His father sent him one day out to tend to the sheep just outside the village. Peter sat in the field for a while but soon grew bored. So he yelled out 'Wolf! Wolf! Help there's a wolf!' All of the villagers raced to the meadow with their shot guns and pitchforks. But when they got there all they saw was Peter rolling on the ground laughing. 'Got you! Got you!' He called. The villagers grumbled and went back to the village. Peter's father scolded him before he too went back to the village. The next day Peter was sent to watch the sheep again. Just as before, half way through the day he called out. 'Wolf! Wolf! Help me there's a wolf!'. As before the villagers ran to the field though not as quickly as they had yesterday. Again they found him rolling around in mirth exclaiming 'I got you! I got you!'. Again Peter was scolded. The third day he was sent to the field. He had been laying down when suddenly he saw something gray move among the white of the sheep and suddenly the sheep were fleeing. 'Wolf! Wolf! There's a wolf!' But no one came. He had fooled them with the same thing twice before. When he realized no one was coming Peter grabbed his own pitchfork and went after the wolf himself. And the wolf ate him. The end." I recited what I remembered of the story. I hadn't remembered what the boy's name was so I had inserted something. I got the basic story line but I wasn't sure if I had the whole thing right.

"The villagers won't come to help Usopp because he's the boy that cried pirate way too many times to be trusted." I stated bluntly. "We know he's telling the truth, but who is going to believe four strangers over someone who has been part of the village for three years?

They shook their head. They didn't believe me now but they would.

As we headed towards the village, we caught up with the three vegetables.

Ussop appeared on the horizon soon after that.

"Captain!" The vegetables called out to him.

I saw him turn away slightly. Moving one hand to wipe across his face and then quickly pulled his armband. Two small motions that would look to anyone else like he was wiping sweat off his face and readjusting his armband so it rested more comfortably. But I knew he was doing it to wipe away traces of his failure to convince the village.

"Hey! So it's you guys!" He called in a false cheerful tone. That oddly enough sounded more real than most of his lies.

"Captain!" The vegetables continued waving.

"Yo!" Luffy called out.

Usopp got a jaw-dropped shocked expression on his face and ran towards our group. "Hey, you're still alive?!"

"Alive?" Luffy sounded confused for a second. "Yeah, I just woke up."

"He was sleeping all this time." Pepper added.

"Anyways Captain, we've heard everything." Carrot added.

"We should hurry and warn everybody of the pirates!" Onion urged.

"Warn everyone..." Usopp whispered to himself, a dark look spreading across his face. And he put his head down his shoulders quaking. Then he lifted up his head and laughed loudly and obnoxiously. There was no true mirth in the sound, but it seemed to have fooled the veggie squad.

"I'm just kidding like I always do. I was pissed at that caretaker so went around saying he was a pirate." He continued laughing.

The three veggies joined him. All of our crew was frowning thoughtfully. I caught several looks thrown my way and gave them an I-told-you-so look back.

"Ah I see."

"Brother Strawhat was fooled by Captain too!"

The veggies walked past Usopp towards town. Suddenly they stopped laughing and Usopp turned to see what was wrong, still holding his arm almost protectively behind his back.

"I'm starting to lose respect for you, Captain." Carrot started.

"Me too." Pepper agreed.

"And me." Onion finished. "Even though the caretaker is a bad guy, we never would've thought that you'd lie to hurt someone else."

Usopp's smile turned into a frown.

"To think that we had so much respect for you, Captain."

They turned and walked farther towards town.

"I'm really disappointed, Captain." One of the veggies' voices floated back towards us.

"Me too." Another one answered.

"Let's go home!" The third voice added. "It's dinner time!"

"I wonder what we'll have..."

I felt really bad for Usopp right now. He had lied to protect them and they practically throw it in his face.

I grabbed Usopp's uninjured wrist and gently tugged him down to the coast. The rest of the group followed us.

I pulled out my first aid kit from my backpack.

"Can I see it?" I asked gesturing for him to pull his armband away from the wound.

I felt my stomach flop slightly at the sight of blood and I quickly forced myself to look through the different parts of the first aid kit. I pulled out a roll of gauze, and a bottle of peroxide.

I shrugged and pulled his arm so it was stretched away from his body and poured a good amount of the peroxide on the cut. He yelped slightly.

I shushed him gently and used a small piece of gauze to wipe away the excess peroxide and blood.

"It didn't bubble much. That's good." I muttered to myself as I pulled the gauze around his arm and wrapped it snugly around the graze.

"Why's it good?" Luffy asked, peeking over my shoulder.

"Peroxide bubbles to get out foreign material. If there was any dirt, or something else in the cut it would bubble to bring it to the top and make it come out. Since it didn't bubble much it means the wound was clean and we don't have to worry much about infection, as long as we keep it covered in bandages and make sure we clean it every time we change bandages." I explained.

I was really glad there wasn't much blood or I wouldn't have been able to do anything.

"Wow! You're almost like a doctor!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Hell no!" I cut off quickly. "Anything more than a pint of blood will make me faint, vomit, or scream in fear."

"You phobic?" Zoro asked.

"Not so much phobic, as uncomfortable with someone's life force pouring out of them." I corrected as I put my kit away burning the bit of gauze that I had used to wipe away the excess peroxide and blood.

"Why did you say all that?" Luffy turned his question to Usopp.

"'Coz I'm a liar. No one would believe me in the first place. I was too naive." Usopp answered.

"Even if you are naive, the truth is still the truth." Zoro stated.

"Those pirates are still gonna attack, right?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, there's no doubt they'll be coming." Usopp stated. "But everyone thinks it's all a hoax. Everyone thinks that tomorrow will be just like any other day. But I will stop those pirates at the coast and make sure it was just a lie!" He stood suddenly at the last sentence, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth in determination. "This is my duty as a liar!"

He suddenly sat back again and buried his face in his arms. "Even though they shot me in the arm... Chased me all over the village... This is still _my _village. I love this village." Tears were pouring from his eyes at this point. "I want to protect everyone!"

Zoro grasped his katana reflexively. "Never thought you were that kind of guy." He said a smirk plastered across his face. "Ditching your friends so that you can face the enemy by yourself."

"Let me get this straight, all of the pirate's treasure will be mine." Nami said holding up an okay sign. Thumb and pointer finger together in a circle and the others out straight.

"Nami you have a serious mental problem. Have you ever considered a therapist for your money fixation. I'm sure they can do something to help you." I told her.

"I don't have a problem!"

"That's what all addicts say. The first step to getting over a problem is admitting you have a problem." I spoke to her condescendingly. It was just too easy to rile her up. But I was serious about the therapist part.

"Alright, we'll lend you a hand." Luffy ignored the argument between Nami and I to talk to Usopp.

"You guys are...willing to fight beside me?" Usopp asked looking up covering his right eye with his right hand. "Why?"

"Because they have more people." Luffy said flexing his hand.

"If you're scared, you can reconsider." Zoro offered Usopp a way out.

"I'm scared?" Usopp denied proudly pointing at himself with a thumb. "It doesn't matter how many there are, it's fine by me! For I am the brave warrior of the sea, Captain Usopp!" The knocking of his knees disagreed with his loud boasts.

"Damn! Damn!" He muttered angrily punching his knees trying to make them stop trembling. "This is no small matter! They are Captain Kuro's band of pirates! Scared, of course I am. So what of it? I won't accept anyone's sympathy. Just go home! Go home!"

"We're not laughing. We're helping you 'coz we admire your courage." Zoro stated bluntly a frown on his face.

"If it was sympathy, would we put our lives at risk?" Luffy asked half of his face shadowed as he turned so only his profile was toward us.

Usopp stood dumbfounded for several seconds before he started to cry again. "Damn... you guys..."

I grinned at that. He was moved to tears.

**A/n: Please review people! Anyway if you can't tell I'm watching the subbed version. Which by the way is better most of the time compared to the dubbed version even if I switch between the two. I liked the subbed version because it's much closer to the original meaning but I like dubbed because I don't have to keep reading the screen. Which do you like best?**

**Anyway. Do you guys like Hikari so far? Please review and tell me what you think!**


	6. Fights and Scars

"Listen. They're planning to attack the village tomorrow morning from this very coast. However this is the only route that leads to the village. The rest are cliffs. There's no other way to attack. In other words if we hold this slope... The village won't be attacked." Usopp explained as we walked up the slope.

"What about where we docked?" I asked trailing slightly behind the group.

Usopp froze at that. "I completely forgot about that slope. But they met here so they're most likely going to attack here."

"Are you willing to bet Kaya and the villagers' lives on it?" I asked.

"No." Usopp admitted softly.

"We'll just have to split up to defend both places." I stated.

"Nami, Zoro and Usopp can go to the North Coast where we docked. That way Nami will be with her treasure, and still have someone to make sure she doesn't die if they actually do attack there. Luffy and I can hold this spot if they decided to attack. If any of us hear that attack on the other side we all come to help." I laid out an easy plan.

Luffy was frankly stronger than Zoro, but it would be suspicious if I sent our best fighter to the North Coast when Usopp was almost positive the attack was going to happen here. Plus Zoro was still a brilliant fighter.

"Sounds easy." Luffy stated carelessly.

"Talking is easy, but we'll need true strength for this battle. What can you guys do?" Usopp asked.

"Slicing!"

"Stretching!"

"Thieving!"

"Punching." I said much less enthusiastically than my comrades.

"I'll be hiding." Usopp said.

"You will be fighting." Everyone else went shark mouthed at Usopp. I shied back a bit at that.

"Just joking. I'll back you guys up." Usopp choked from his position in Luffy's choke hold.

Usopp disappeared for a while and appeared with several barrels of oil."

"Good. Now that the slope's covered with oil they won't be able to get up. We wait for them to slip then we jump in and wipe them all out." Usopp explained.

"Do you have enough oil to cover the North slope too?" I asked.

"Yeah." Usopp nodded.

"You guys should go set up there too. Luffy and I can hold the fort here." I told them with a grin.

"Okay." The rest of the group agreed. Nami mostly so she could be closer to her money. And Zoro and Usopp because they knew how important it was to cover all of the bases.

I decided to meditate to wait out the night. The Black Cat Pirates were supposed to attack at dawn. I didn't want to sleep because it would leave me drowsy and clumsy. I was bad enough at fighting when I was fully awake, I didn't need a handicap like that.

In. 1...2...3...4...5...

Out. 1...2...3...4...5...

In. 1...2...3...4...5...

Out. 1...2...3...4...5...

I felt my stress fall away with every exhale. My lips fell into a small smile, my eyes were shut lightly to block out any sights that might've distracted me. I could hear my own breathing and heartbeat. Strong, steady, soothing.

This was peace.

Nothing could ruin this mome-

"HIKARI!" Luffy's loud voice startled my eyes open. I fell backwards as I realized how close his face was to mine.

"You were sleeping that weird way again." Luffy stated tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy.

I barely managed to avoid face-palming.

"1) I was meditating- not sleeping. 2) You don't yell in someone's ear to wake them up, you nudge them gently and if that doesn't work you shake them softly. 3) Even if I was asleep you should have left me until just before dawn because we need all the energy we can get before the fight. 4) There is something called personal space. Most people require a minimum of eight to twelve inches of distance between each other most of the time. You are currently invading my personal space." I explained as I calmly sat up and scooted backwards from him slightly.

I went back to my meditating and this time Luffy didn't bother me.

"It's dawn." Luffy spoke up a little while later. "Where are they?"

"Shh. We need to listen and see if they're coming from the North." I warned.

There was silence for a minute then I heard a roar from the north as the Black Cat Pirates cried out as they got ready to attack.

"I can get there in less than twenty seconds." Luffy stated.

"Wait Luffy. You're going the wrong-" He was already gone. "way." I finished to the thin air beside me. Why did I even try?

I turned and sighed as I ran towards the North Coast by myself.

When I reached the North Coast most of the lower class pirates were on the ground and Zoro was getting his ass handed to him by the Nyaban brothers. He had apparently had his swords stolen and during the fight had slid down to their level. On the up side the oil slick seemed to work really well. On the down side if anyone went down there to help him they would be stuck down there and most likely get in the way in the long run.

Zoro looked frightening in his battle mode. His black bandana cast a threatening shadow over his eyes and his face was set in a grim line.

Usopp was looking worse for the wear. Apparently a pirate had gotten past the oil slick before he was knocked back down the hill. Nami also looked like she had suffered a hit. A couple of pirates must have used their fallen comrades to climb up the oil slick. It was the only thing I could think of that would allow them up.

Buchi and Sham were weirdos. There was practically no other way to describe them.

Sham was the skinny one. He had green hair in a weird style, and long eye lashes. He wore a black tuxedo type shirt with a pink bow and teal short shorts. His legs were shaved from his knee up and he had brown clawed gloves on both hands.

Buchi was enormous. He had no hair at first glance but he wore a black cat ears cap. He even had a black spot around his left eye. He was wearing a giant bell around his neck and his pants were black and red stripes with a yellow scarf tied around as a sort of belt. He was also wearing a white, lavender, and dark purple cape. He also had clawed gloves but his were a sort of off-white, gray color. He also seemed to have stolen a vampire's fangs at some point in his career.

Buchi and Sham were clawing furiously at Zoro but he was blocking each and every slash.

Usopp got up and aimed a pachinko at the brothers. Zoro quickly moved in the way and got a pair of gashes across his chest for his troubles. The brothers didn't give Zoro much of a chance to recover as they went back to attacking.

The fight progressed really quickly from then on.

Luffy finally appeared in time to see Nami rushing to get Zoro's swords and getting slashed with Jango's chakram. He quickly knocked Jango senseless. Jango hit the ground just in time for Kuro to appear.

Buchi and Sham had a minor spot of rebellion but Kuro did this little dance thing and suddenly disappeared and put them in their place. He had an arm over both of their shoulders and had the blade of his thumb claws pointed in each of their faces.

"I'll give you five minutes. If you don't kill them all in five minutes... You're dead along with them." Kuro said bluntly stepping away.

I moved to stand almost protectively behind Usopp. Kuro would have a lot of anger to take out on him if he had the chance, which I didn't plan to let him have.

Jango pulled himself to his feet. "We just need to beat the swordsman and the strawhat!" He declared.

Buchi and Sham raced back down the slope barely keeping their feet because of the oil.

Nami kicked Zoro's swords up to him and he quickly caught them and got into his stance.

"Having extra swords won't help you." One of the nyaban brothers declared.

"The results will be the same." The other stated.

Zoro moved into a weird stance. His feet were shoulder length apart, pointed straight forward. The sword in his mouth was pointed to the left while the other two moved so they were perpendicular on either side of the sword, pointing downwards. "TIGER..."

"You guys don't get it." Zoro declared. "HUNTING PREY!" He finished his attack, slicing both of them sending them flying over his head.

"Four minutes to go." Kuro stated.

"Using three swords and three sword techniques are..." He turned to face them, grinning evilly around Wado's hilt. "totally different things."

"Incredible." Jango sounded amazed. "Only a single strike..."

Buchi staggered towards Jango.

Kuro stood like a mummy. The claws were crossed across his chest.

"Don't worry. In five minutes there won't be anyone left. I'll take care of them all." Zoro said pointing a sword at Kuro.

Kuro moved to push his glasses up and it was obvious to everyone why he used the palm of his hand instead of his fingers. Wouldn't to poke an eye out accidentally.

"Three minutes to go." Kuro said without a care.

Buchi grabbed Jango's foot and begged him to hypnotize him. Jango did so and was quickly drawn into a fight with Luffy as Zoro was left to once again take on the fat cat. Said fat cat had actually gotten quite muscular when he was hypnotized.

"Looks like you were a bit soft." Kuro stated looking at Buchi get up.

"He was probably saved by all that fat. It blocked his vitals." Zoro stated.

Zoro and Buchi were quickly locked in combat once more. Nami ran out of the area as Luffy sent Jango flying.

"Two minutes to go." Kuro stated.

There was miscellaneous fighting then: "One minute to go."

"Buchi hurry and kill the one with the waist band. I'll take care of the strawhat."

Kuro moved so he was on the balls of his feet.

"Don't ever think of..." Kuro started.

Usopp ran forward quick and I was right behind him.

I sensed what was going to happen moments before it did and I moved quickly. I shoved Ussop into Kaya and they fell to the ground. I only had moments left as I turned to look at the claws descending towards my face. I threw myself backwards even as the claw cut threw the air towards my face. I closed my eyes at the last second which probably saved my eye. The claws sliced through the soft flesh of my face leaving three deep gashes and sending me into a world of pain. Two of the claws had missed barely. So I was lucky I didn't have more gashes.

I fell backwards the rest of the way and howled in pain rolling around in agony as I clutched my hands over the right side of my face. I opened my left eye and felt panicked as I noticed all the red that was surrounding my vision. Blood. Lots and lots of blood. I knew head wounds bleed a lot but this was excessive.

I fervently hoped my right eye would still work but with the amount of pain pounding through my face I seriously doubted it.

I felt blackness sneak into what little vision I had and I passed out, but not before hearing my crewmates and allies calling my name in panic.

I woke up a week later in the girl's bunk of the Going Merry. I could feel the scars throbbing and I quickly chased Nami and everyone else out of the room. I curled up in a corner after looking at myself in the mirror.

I avoided everyone for three days.

I heard a commotion on deck on day two but I ignored it.

The crew spent a lot of time trying to convince me to come out of my room. Nami had been forced to stay in the boys' room because I had barricaded the door. Nami pushed me food through the porthole every meal time but often I couldn't even eat the food.

I was borderline depressed.

Currently the crew was trying once more to get me to leave the room.

"They're not that bad, Hikari." Ussop tried to sooth.

"Liar!" I yelled through the door of the woman's quarters.

"Ugh. Luffy you try." I heard him mutter to Luffy.

"They aren't bad at all. Scars are cool."

"You don't get it! On men scars are cool. It shows their strength. They had survived whatever hurt them. It makes them more attractive because they're strong. For women it's different. On women scars subtracts beauty. They means that the women were too weak or too stupid to avoid getting hurt. It's a mark of shame. No matter what women are weaker and dumber then men, according to society. Society dictates that a woman is lower than man even though women outnumber men 51% to 49%." I choked back a sob. I had always hated that about the world. I leaned back against the door trying to hold in my tears.

"Let me try." Zoro's whisper barely caught my ears.

"We'll be on deck." Nami said and the sound of complaints rang out as she dragged the other two away.

"Hikari, can I come in?" Zoro asked, his voice was gentle and soothing. It surprised me for some reason.

I sniffed. "Okay." I slid over so I was no longer in front of the door and he opened it a crack before slipping in and closing the door behind him.

He sat across from me and gently brushed my hair away from my face. I flinched slightly and turned to hid my right side.

I had been unconscious for a week after I had gotten the wound and it had scarred over while I was unconscious. I had been hiding from the crew since I had woken up and seen the disfigurement.

Zoro gently grabbed my chin and turned my face towards him.

"They aren't ugly." he whispered to me. "They are a sign you put your Nakama before yourself. You are very self-less and that's more attractive then a scar free face."

I choked at his words. I had been hiding from everyone for the past three days. It was a relief to hear someone tell me I was still attractive even with the disfigurements.

I finally let the tears fall. Through my blurry vision I could see he looked worried and clueless. He obviously didn't have much experience with crying women. He moved forward and gently pulled me to his chest letting me cry on his shoulder.

He patted my back hesitantly, and I smiled a tiny smile at how cute he was when he was clueless.

I slumped against him feeling tense muscles relaxing. I had been tense and unsociable for three days. I had only eaten because the rest of the crew had been pushing food through the small porthole which I had covered with a curtain after I caught Nami and Luffy looking in at me.

I smiled as I fell asleep, totally relaxed for the first time in days. I vaguely felt myself lifted gently but I fell asleep before I felt anything else.

I woke up the next day in my bed. Zoro was not in the room.

I got dressed and decided I would face the crew today. I looked into the mirror and decided I wasn't quite ready to show my scars so I brushed my hair over the right side of my face. I looked at the mirror once more and a vision flashed over my reflection. It was a man with shoulder length red hair, a strawhat like Luffy's, and three scars over his left eye. I shook the image away and turned away from the mirror.

Then another scene flashed in front of my face. It was Kuro's claws slicing through the air. As I watched it a second time I realized what I hadn't the first time. I hadn't seen Kuro move to slice Ussop and Kaya. I had sensed it, almost as if I had seen the action seconds before it happened. I had seen the intended action and had interfered to change it. It must've been the first stirrings of my Haki. Kenbunshoku Haki, the color of perception. I had a limited perception of what was going to happen before it did.

I brushed the thought away. I would work on developing it after I had assured my crew mates, no my Nakama, of my health. The walk to the galley was surprisingly short.

"Hikari!" the crew shouted in surprise glee. Except Nami who just smiled softly at me.

Luffy rushed over to me and swung me around in a big hug. "You alright now?" he asked as he put me back on my feet.

"I will be." I said with a small smile.

"Can we see your scars?" Luffy asked childishly.

I stared for a second, looking at all of my Nakama. I found strength when I looked at Zoro and remembered his words to me. _"They aren't ugly." he whispered to me. "They are a sign you put your Nakama before yourself. You are very self-less and that's more attractive then a scar free face."_

I brushed my hair behind my ears closing my eyes and calming myself to see their reactions.

I was about to open my eyes when a lightly calloused hand brushed against the scars gently.

"It's my fault." Ussop whispered. "If you hadn't pushed me and Kaya out of the way you wouldn't have been hurt." His hands were very timid as they lightly traced the claw marks.

"It's not your fault." I protested opening my eyes to look at him seriously. "I would do it over and over again. You're my Nakama. My family. I would do whatever it takes to protect all of you." And even as I said it I realized it was true. They had become family in the short amount of time that I had known them. Zoro, Luffy, and Ussop were like the older brothers that I always wanted. I had younger brothers but I had always wished for older brothers who would defend me. Even Nami had weaseled her way into my family as the annoying younger sister that I had to deal with but still loved deep down.

"Wow Hikari-Sis. Those look painful." A sudden voice startled me. I turned around and stared at the pair of bounty hunters in shock. When had they gotten here?


	7. On The Baratie, Enter Sanji!

It was either Yosaku or Johnny. I could never remember which one was which. He had short black hair, black sunglasses and a tattoo on his left check of some kanji or another.

Everyone sat back down as they got back to their food.

"Sis?" I finally asked.

"You're Zoro-Bro's shipmate. So your Hikari-Sis." The man answered.

"Who are you?" I finally asked.

"Ah. My name's Johnny." He answered. "My partner's name is Yosaku. He's resting right now."

"Your partner? So you two are gay for each other?" I asked innocently.

Zoro spit out the mouthful of booze he had, Luffy continued eating as if nothing was wrong, Usopp chocked on his food, and Nami snorted into hers. I had caught the rest of the crew during lunch time.

"NO!" Johnny yelled, huge tic mark forming in his temple. "Not like that. We're business partners."

"Oh? You should have just said so." I said innocently as I snatched a few apples before Luffy could eat them.

"Hikari-Sis is mean." Johnny pouted.

"So where are we headed?" I asked.

"To get a cook." Luffy said bluntly.

"How long until we get there?" I asked.

"Should be about two hours from now." Johnny said.

I nodded and grabbed another apple and a loaf of bread and sat back away from the table so Luffy would have to actually look to see where my food is instead of just reaching for the area out of instinct.

I almost unconsciously brushed my hair back over my scars but caught myself just as I finished.

"Aww. Come on Hikari. They're cool scars. They mean you're strong." Luffy said.

"They mean I was slow and weak." I scoff.

"As long as they're not on you back it's fine. It's not like you got them because you ran away or anything." Zoro said as if that were the end of the discussion and oddly enough it seemed to be.

I caught myself switching hairstyles multiple times over the next two hours. I would push my hair behind my ears to get it out of my face only to feel the wind blowing gently against my scars a warning that they were showing, and brush it back over them self-consciously.

Nami seemed to be the only one who could understand what I was doing. All the males though scars were cool and didn't see them in any other way. I couldn't help feel ugly with three huge gashes across my face.

"The Floating Restaurant: Baratie!" Johnny announced loudly. "What do you guys think?"

"That's one humongous fish!"

"It really is!"

"Isn't it amazing?"

I was the only one to see what I assumed to be Yosaku come out of the quarters. He wore what appeared to be a green bathrobe, a pair of yellow checkered shorts, a black t-shirt, a red headband/faceband thing, and a pair of olive green boots. He had also shaved from his knees up. A bunch of the weirdos here do that apparently.

The sound of horns turned our attention to the Marine boat pulling in beside us.

Both Yosaku and Johnny seemed shocked to see a Marine boat so far out here.

"It didn't come all the way out here to attack us, did it?" Usopp asked.

"I smell trouble." Zoro muttered.

"Just out of the blue?" Nami asked.

It appeared that our boats were in a sort of race with the Baratie being the finish line and both of our boats holding steady with each other.

"I'm the Marine Lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody." The man stated. He had pink hair of all things. He also looked like he had recently gotten stitches on the right side of his face. He was dressed in a white striped outer shirt with a light blue undershirt. "Who's your Captain? Show yourself." He demanded.

I quickly grabbed Usopp and pulled him backwards subtlety so he wouldn't make trouble.

"I am, Luffy." Luffy stated.

I put my hand over Usopp's mouth to make sure he wouldn't shout out his lie. Zoro and Nami looked confused when Usopp didn't speak up but turned and saw I had a hand over his mouth.

"Our pirate mark was just made yesterday!"

"You two claim to be pirate hunters, don't you?" He asked turning away from Luffy to look at Yosaku and Johnny who were hiding behind the open door to the inner quarters of the ship.

"Seems like you've finally been caught." Fullbody smirked. "This is just too good."

"Hey! We're..."

"We should go." Fullbody's blond haired date stated. She was wearing a slimming red cocktail dress with red high heels.

"Sure." Fullbody answered.

"I'll show you what we pirate hunters do!" Johnny shouted needlessly throwing multiple wanted posters all over the deck.

One of the posters caught Nami's eyes.

Fullbody ignored them walking away with his date.

"Sink them." I heard Fullbody tell his Marines as he walked away one arm slung over his date's shoulders.

"He ignored us. We'll get him back for this." The pirate hunter duo spoke amongst themselves.

I let Usopp go. There was no way he could claim to be Captain if no one was listening to him.

"What are all these?" Nami asked bending down to collect the pile of posters.

"They're all pirates with bounties on their heads, Nami-Sis."

"I told you to stop calling me Sis." Nami snapped.

The cannon on the Marine ship came out farther.

"This isn't good. They're aiming right at us!" Usopp stated staring at the cannon.

BOOM

The cannon fired.

"Leave it to me!" Luffy declared, he was sitting on the railing of the Merry, his feet crossed at the ankles around one of the bars. He crossed his arms making a sort of V shape.

"Gum Gum Pachinko!" He lashed one arm around the mast and the another arm around the figurehead of the Merry.

A small piece of the figurehead snapped off in his hand. Unfortunately the cannon ball had already been caught in his stomach so having one limb move unexpectedly caused the cannon ball to be aimed at an entirely different direction then it was originally aimed for.

The cannonball hit the roof of the Baratie, creating a large hole in the roof.

A pair of the chefs from the restaurant came and took Luffy to meet with the owner of the Baratie.

It had been almost an hour since then.

"Damn. Luffy's been gone a long time." Usopp complained.

"That noble idiot. He should have just said it was the Marine's fault. It technically was." Nami stated.

I just yawned and laid back on the deck. It turned my right side so it faced towards a wall so no one would look at my scars.

Yosaku and Johnny were repairing the part of the ship Johnny had ruined when he first got on the ship.

Zoro was resting with his hands folded behind his head making a pillow of sorts.

"Maybe we should go see what's taking him." Nami suggested.

"And get some food while we're at it." Usopp added.

I was torn. I wanted food. I hadn't been eating much the last three days and before that I hadn't eaten anything for a week because I had been unconscious.

I nodded in agreement and brushed my hair into place over my right side of my face.

We got into a small rowboat to row over to the Baratie and as we were tying up we heard loud crash inside the restaurant.

Zoro pushed the red double doors open. "Is this a fight or something?"

"Don't go ruining our food." A blond man wearing a tux with a blue striped under shirt and a black tie said. His hair was combed down over his left eye but the visible eye was blue and the eyebrow was a weird swirl. He was smoking a cigarette.

He would've been almost datable if it hadn't been for the fact he was smoking. I hated smoking. It was a horrible habit. I imagine anyone who kissed a smoker would be better off licking an ash tray instead. It probably would've tasted better. After all, ash trays can only hold so many cigarettes. You could never know how many a person could've smoked before they kissed you.

The blond was holding a beaten Fullbody up by his jaw.

"Messing with a cook of the sea, is a good way to get yourself killed... Remember that well."

I was almost positive his name was Sanji. Of course when I was reading Fanfics I didn't even bother imagining the characters. I just read and they sort of appeared to my imagination as personalities. I'd like to think I got the core values of the characters based on the way they acted rather than the way they looked.

Of course. the blonde was rather attractive too. There was no way to deny that without sounding like a blind person or a jealous person. I wasn't either so there was no sense acting like one.

"A customer! You're at it again, Sanji? What are you doing to our customer? Isn't that a Marine lieutenant?" A man looking like Pop-Eye's cross-dressing cousin walked in. That was probably the most polite way to describe him. He was small in the ankles and wide in the shoulders and forearms making him look like an upside down triangle. He was wearing a blue cooks' outfit with a white apron and a pink scarf around his neck. He had a tattoo on his left arm but it was hard to make out from the angle from which I was watching but I thought it looked sort of like a heart.

"Got a problem, you crappy cook?" Sanji turned to look over the shoulder of the arm holding the nearly unconscious Fullbody up in the air. "Don't talk to me that way!"

"A crappy cook like you has no right to call _me _crappy!" The Pop-Eye double angrily retorted. "To a restaurant, customers are everything! Beating up our valuable customers, what are you thinking?" He demanded of Sanji.

"Customer or not, it's no different. This guy not only ruined our dishes, he also insulted its chef!"

Judging by how angry Sanji was I was going to go ahead and assume he was the one who cooked the dish that Fullbody had ruined.

Sanji let his grip on Fullbody go and the large Marine lieutenant fell to the ground landing on his ass. "That's why I thought I should teach him a lesson."

"What kind of restaurant is this?" Fullbody complained sounding breathless. "Do you treat all of your customers this way? How does it even stay in business? I'll destroy it! I'll destroy your precious little restaurant. I'll destroy it! I'll contact my superiors right now!"

The more Fullbody talked the more ticked off Sanji seemed to become. Of course if someone was threatening to destroy the place I worked and lived I would probably be pissed off too.

"I guess that means I can't let you leave this place alive." Sanji's voice was rather controlled for the amount of veins that were standing out in his forehead.

Fullbody looked up startled at that declaration.

"Stop it, Assistant Head Chef!" It took three other cooks to hold the angry Assistant Head Chef back.

"Let go of me!"

"He started it!"

"Stop it! Stop fighting, Sanji!"

Sanji managed to get one arm free and stretch it towards Fullbody threateningly. "Just who do you think you are?! Huh?!"

Just as things looked like they were going to go out of control the ceiling suddenly got a hole in it and out fell our Captain and a blond haired man with a huge chef's hat.

"What's going on?"

"Man that surprised me." Luffy stated blandly.

"O-Owner? What's going on?" One of the chefs asked.

"Damn it, see what you did?!" The owner of the Baratie yelled ignoring the chef. "You broke my ceiling! It's all your fault, boy!"

"You broke it yourself, old man!" Luffy snapped back showing all of his teeth. The owner was doing the same thing.

"What are you doing, Boss?!" One of the chefs holding Sanji demanded. "Leave him and help us stop Sanji here!"

The owner and Luffy were now head to head and nose to nose. If it weren't for the fact they were glaring at each other someone might've assumed they were going to kiss with how close they were. Both turned their heads at the same time, so their cheeks were pressed together as they watched Sanji try to free himself from three other chefs.

"Hey, Sanji!" The owner called.

Sanji turned to look at the man, not ever stopping his struggle to get out of the chefs' holds.

"Were you fighting in my restaurant again, you ingrate?"

Sanji stopped moving and turned to face the man. "Shut up, old fart."

"What?! Who do you think you're talking to?! You wanna destroy my restaurant?! You insolent boy!" The owner moved almost to fast to see, and suddenly Sanji was hit across the face with a peg leg.

Fullbody smiled at that.

"You're another one!" The old man turned his attention to Fullbody who looked like he wanted it to be anywhere but where it was. "Get the hell out of here!" Another peg-leg kick knocked Fullbody on his face.

"You got that?! Customers are Gods!" The ugly Pop-Eye look-a-like yelled at Sanji.

"The only godly customers are the ones that can stomach _your _cooking." Sanji replied.

"Patty, Sanji! If you wanna fight, don't go doing it in front of our customers!" The man warned. Apparently Pop-Eye man was Patty.

Fullbody managed to sit up.

"L-Lieutenant!" A Marine called from outside of the restaurant. "Lieutenant Fullbody!" the Marine appeared at the entrance to the restaurant. "We've got a problem!"

"This restaurant sure is lively."Luffy commented.

"The pirate from Krieg's crew has escaped!" the injured Marine continued.

"What?!"

"We thought he could've given us a lead on Krieg... We've already lost seven of our men."

"That's ridiculous!" Fullbody exclaimed. "When we got him three days ago he was about to starve to death! And we haven't fed him yet, have we?"

"And you say Pirates are monsters." I muttered loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear.

Everyone in the restaurant was too worried about the fact he was a Don Krieg pirate to focus on the fact that the Marines had been starving him. Apparently Don Krieg was a big shot. The most powerful of the East Blue. Which wasn't saying much considering East Blue was the weakest of the oceans.

"I'm really sor..." Before the Marine could finish his apology he was shot from behind. He fell forward revealing the man who had shot him still holding the gun out.

Most of the customers fled at that. Our group stayed off to the side.

"Another customer has arrived." Patty stated bluntly ignoring the fact the man had just killed someone not seconds ago.

"He better not cause anymore trouble in _my _restaurant." Boss Chef stated.

"A pirate, eh?" Luffy observed cheerfully.

Fullbody looked away as the pirate walked past him and plopped down into an empty chair putting his foot up on the table. "I don't care what, just bring me some food."

There was silence for a while and then the man tilted his head back. "This is a restaurant, isn't it?"

He was an average looking man. Black short hair hidden under a white and blue striped hat. A pair of large red earrings in both of his ears. He was also wearing a shirt that matched his hat. A trail of blood came from his left temple down over his eye and down the side of his neck.

"Welcome, mere bastard." Patty said with a huge and weird looking grin. I had no clue how he thought that was a welcoming greeting but whatever.

"I'll only say it once more, so listen up. Bring me some food."

"He's going to kill that cook!" Fullbody stated.

"I'm sorry Sir, but we'll be expecting you to pay for a meal here. Do you have enough money?" Patty asked.

The pirate swung the pistol up until it was pointed between Patty's eyes. "Is a bullet okay?"

"So I take it you don't have any money." Patty stated. His face falling into a frown. I think he's bipolar but if the boss of the Baratie wants to hire crazy people it's his choice.

Patty suddenly attacked bringing his huge arms down on the chair that the pirate barely vacated in time.

"That bastard Patty broke one of my chairs!" The head cook complained crossing his arms.

"Wow, what power!" Luffy stated.

"If you can't pay up, you can't eat." Patty stated crossing his arms. I was really starting to dislike the arrogant bipolar cook. Sure the pirate shouldn't have pointed a gun in his face but desperate men do desperate things.

The civilians were cheering on the cook. I frowned at them but most of it was hidden behind my hair. They just didn't like pirates. Stereotyping bastards.

The Krieg pirate's stomach growled loud enough to be heard on the other side of the room.

"Oh, your stomach's growling there, you filthy pirate." Patty stated cruelly.

"That was a fart." The pirate said trying to protect his pride. "You jerk, hurry and get me something to eat." He had one arm wrapped around his stomach using the other had to balance him where he was still kneeling on the floor from where his chair was destroyed. He was shaking subtly. Probably muscle cramps from lack of food and water.

"You're no customer, so get the hell outta here!" Patty yelled angrily.

I watched as Sanji left back towards the kitchen. At least someone on this boat had a heart.

Patty was now kicking the crap out of the pirate, who was now sprawled out on the floor, while the rest of the civilians were cheering.

"Bunch of monsters." I grumbled walking out. I couldn't watch this. I couldn't stop it either. It would just get me thrown out. I knew I wouldn't be beaten because my crew would stand up for me but they would be able to bar me entrance.

I huffed angrily as I sat on the dock of the Baratie. I pulled my sandles off and dipped my feet in the water kicking them back and forth gently.

I heard Patty dump the man out on the deck several feet away from me.

I glared at him hoping in some part of his brain he could feel my disdain for him.

I watched as the pirate tried to crawl away. But Sanji appeared and put a plate of food in front of him.

I smiled as I watched them talk. Sanji was a good guy.

I saw Luffy try to get Sanji to join. I just kicked my feet back and forth in the water tuning out their voices.

"Got my toes in the water. My toes in the sand. Not a worry in the world a cold beer in my hand. Life was good today. Life was good today.~" I sung softly under my breath, smiling as I kicked the water softly.

"Oi! Hikari come on! We're gonna order food." Zoro called from the front door.

"Ah. Coming Zoro!" I called back pulling my feet out of the water and slipping my sandles back on.

"What do you want Hikari?" Nami asked as I hid my face with my hair.

"Stir fry." I muttered still trying to hide my face. "and just water for a drink."

"Okay. Your orders will be out soon." The guy taking the orders said.

We waited for about fifteen minutes before our food came. I carefully pushed the bottom part of my hair away from my mouth and began eating.

"Hikari just push your hair back. No one's gonna make fun of you with us here." Usopp said.

I shook my head. I didn't want so many people to see my scars. I hadn't gotten used to them myself yet.

"Leave her alone." Nami ordered. I was grateful for her input. Maybe we would get along better than I thought we would. Considering I thought we would kill each other though that wasn't much of a stretch.

"Hey there, waiter!" Nami called up towards Luffy as he appeared.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?!" Luffy demanded.

"Hey, I heard you gotta work here for a year!" Usopp called up.

"Can I redraw the pirate flag?" Zoro asked.

"What's all that? You guys all stuff yourselves with such great food while I'm not around?!" Luffy demanded. "That hurts!" He yelled at us as he suddenly appeared in front of our table.

"Not really, it's our free will." Zoro laughed.

Zoro was looking away from Luffy and he quickly dug in his nose and plopped a booger right in Zoro's water.

Usopp and Nami had to look away as they tried to hide their snickers. I gave Luffy a look of disgust before transferring that look to Nami and Usopp. That was gross.

"But I gotta admit, the food here is great." Zoro added turning back to look at Luffy.

"I feel kind of sorry for you." Zoro picked up his glass closing his eyes as he brought it up to his mouth. "You drink it!" he suddenly roared forcing the water, booger and all, down Luffy's throat.

I gagged slightly and had to turn away. That was beyond gross.

Nami started laughing like a hyena with Usopp not far behind.

"Why'd you do that!" Luffy demanded his tongue flailing out of his mouth as he held his throat like he was choking, while rolling on the ground..

"That's gross." I muttered hiding my face with my hair more firmly.

"You, too! What were you trying to pull?" Zoro demanded standing up and towering over Luffy.

"My stomach's aching." Luffy complained.

I could barely hear him over Nami pounding the table in her laughter. I glanced at her with my visible eye brow raised.

Everyone was staring at our table and I resisted the urge to check and see if my hair was hiding my face.

"O' Mother Ocean! Thank you for arranging this encounter today!" Sanji declared loudly offering both Nami and I a rose each. Nami instantly stopped laughing to stare at him. I blushed and hid my face with my hair even more.

"Oh my loves!" He covered his face with an arm. "Go on laugh at me. I, who can't bear torture. As long as I'm with you, it matters not if I'm a pirate or a devil... My heart's ready as can be!" He revealed his face and his eye had become a heart.

I leaned back away from him slightly. I wasn't used to even subtle flirting so this over the top stuff made me embarrassed.

"But there is such a great obstacle between us!" He made a strange heroic looking pose. One fist over his chest, his face looking away and the other fist down by his hip.

"That obstacle is me, right?" boss chef asked appearing out of nowhere. "Sanji."

Sanji's eye went back to normal. "That old fart."

"This is just great. Why don't you just run off and be a pirate just like them."

Sanji turned to look at him at that.

"We don't need you here anymore!"

Sanji looked furious at that.

"Hey old fart. Ain't I the Assistant Head Chef here? What's your crap of not needing me no more?"

"You always fight with our customers. You flirt with any beautiful woman in sight." I blushed there. That was an indirect compliment but a compliment nonetheless. "And you make lousy food." I mentally called bullshit on that one. "You're nothing more than a burden to this restaurant! That's what I mean."

"What the..." Sanji started.

The rest of the chefs were watching from upstairs eagerly, chuckling at the tongue lashing Sanji was getting. Apparently he wasn't very popular.

"The other cooks don't like you anyway." There it was. "Why don't you just become a pirate or whatever you please? Why don't you just get the hell outta here!?"

"What's this crap?" Sanji growled. "I didn't do shit and now you're blowing your head off, old fart? I don't care about the rest of your excuses... But I'll never allow my cooking to be insulted!" Sanji moved closer to head chef. "I don't care what the hell you're gonna say... I'm gonna stay right here as a chef! If you don't like it, it's your problem!" Sanji grabbed the head chef by his shirt.

"How dare you hit your own boss...!" He demanded. He slapped Sanji's hand away with one hand then grabbed him with the other and threw him. "You stupid eggplant!"

Sanji flew towards our table. I grabbed my half eaten stir fry and stepped away quickly, just in time to avoid Sanji hitting the table and my food. Unfortunately for me my movement made my hair move away from my face.

Several loud gasps sounded then loud whispers about my face started. I felt my eyes tear up at the shallow words and quickly pulled my hair back over my face.

A large arm draped over my shoulder pulling me into a broad chest. "Ignore them." Zoro said loud enough to be heard by the whole restaurant even over their whispers.

Everybody had already been looking our way because of the fight between Sanji and his boss so the attention easily switched to me as soon as my scars were revealed.

"Damn it." Sanji muttered as he slid off the table. He hadn't seen my face. "Are you kidding?" Sanji demanded he still hadn't noticed my little personal issue with the other patrons of the restaurant.

"No matter how hard you may try... I'm gonna stay right here as a chef! 'Til the day you go to hell!" Sanji declared.

"I won't die! I'll live another 100 years!"

"What a stubborn old man..." Sanji growled.

"Isn't it great that he gave you his blessing!" Luffy said eager to get the cook to join the crew. "Now you can come with us!"

"Hell no!" Sanji grew demonic shark teeth and glared at Luffy.

Sanji quickly put the table back to rights. "Alright then. Please pardon me for what happened." He suddenly set some sort of fruity desert in front of me and Nami and poured Nami and I a glass of champagne each. "As an apology, I've ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my Princesses." He said.

I was still pressed to Zoro's side my face pressed in his chest.

"Come on Hikari. It's not that bad." Usopp tried to coax ignoring Sanji's over the top flirting.

"Why, thank you. You're so kind."

"It's nothing." Sanji answered.

Usopp turned from trying to convince me I could show my face again to yell at Sanji for gender discrimination.

"Picking a fight with me, I won't go easy on you! Get him Zoro!" Usopp suddenly demanded.

"Do it yourself. I'm trying to convince Hikari no one's gonna make fun of her." Zoro said back.

I felt my face heat up and buried my face firmly in Zoro's chest. It was the only way I could hide until the world decided it wanted to do me a favor and swallow me whole.

"What's wrong my angel?" Sanji suddenly asked me ignoring Usopp.

"Go 'way." I muttered sadly.

"Come on Hikari. You can't hide your face in my chest the whole time we're here." Zoro suddenly said.

"Watch me." My voice came out muffled from his chest.

I felt more then heard him sigh.

"Ah. Sorry about her. By the way... The food here is amazing, but it's a bit expensive for me." Nami turned Sanji's attention back to her.

"Of course, I won't make you ladies pay..." Sanji said.

"Thank you!" Nami exclaimed.

"You still have to pay." He told Zoro and Usopp.

"I already saw that coming." Zoro muttered.

Luffy laughed loudly only to get kicked by Sanji. I had turned my head so the right side of my face was pressed against Zoro's chest thus hidden from view.

"What are you slacking off here for?" Sanji demanded before dragging him away.

Four days passed quickly. I had avoided going into the Baratie again. Nami understood after the first embarrassment that I didn't want to enter the restaurant again and easily brought me a plate each meal.

Sanji seemed to be okay with this practice because he let it continue. I don't know if Nami told him about my scars or not but I didn't bother asking. If he knew there was no way to take the knowledge away, if he didn't know then I didn't need to worry about it anyway.

The rest of the crew was getting restless but since I had so much time and so little to do... I spent my time practicing with my Kenbunshoku (Color of Observation/Observation) Haki and even tried to see if I could focus and make my Busoshoku (Color of Arms/Armament) Haki work for me.

I had only managed to call Observation Haki up a few times. I hadn't even managed to try Armament Haki. I really needed to learn but it was slow going with trial and error. In my case it was mostly error and error. But I wasn't going to give up. Not only would it be lazy and stupid, I would be turned into a vegetable and I didn't want to be like that.

A thick fog had moved in sometime late in the morning. The fog was so thick it was almost hard to see a few feet in front of me.

I was once again meditating trying to remember how I had felt moments before sensing what was going to happen with Kuro. Maybe it hadn't been Haki at all. Maybe it was just what I remembered of the anime placing itself over what was happening to me now that I was in the show. If that was the case I had a lot farther to go than I thought at first.

Suddenly a large shape appeared in the fog. It was a galleon and it was coming toward the Baratie.

The ship soon began panicking and I could hear it from the girls' bunks on the Merry. I hurried to the deck.

"Wow that's a big ship." I muttered. "But it looks like it went through a hurricane or something."

Usopp was panicking and saying we should get out of there.

We were silent for a while waiting to see what was going to happen.

"What's going on in the restaurant?" Usopp asked as most of the patrons ran out screaming.

"Let's go see." Zoro said.

"Are you crazy?" Usopp demanded.

"What's wrong? You scared?"

I stretched and moved to stand next to Zoro. I wouldn't have to worry about the patrons gossiping about my scars. The workers were fighting cooks so they wouldn't mock my scars.

"Huh, don't be silly!" Usopp denied.

Then there was a huge explosion from the ship. A bunch of smoke poured from the doors and windows of the ship. Then the sound of a machine gun followed soon after.

We snuck to the top level of the restaurant and went down the stairs in time for Luffy to challenge Kreig by saying he was going to be Pirate King.

"Starting a brawl, Luffy?" Zoro asked. "Need a hand?"

"W-we don't have to, y-you know." Usopp stuttered looking scared out of his mind.

"Need help Captain?" I added from where I stood a few steps above where Zoro and Usopp stood.

"Zoro, Usopp, Hikari! You dropped by!" He sounded surprised. "It's okay. Just sit and watch."

"Oh, okay.. That's too bad then..." Usopp lied sounding a little less stressed now that he wasn't going to be drawn into the fight. "If you don't need us, there's nothing we can do about that.I-I'll help ya, if you still need it! G-Good luck!"

Zoro swung around and nailed Usopp in the face with the hilt of Wado.

"What the hell was that for, Zoro?!" Usopp demanded.

"Shut up and stay still." Zoro ordered.

Krieg suddenly started laughing.

"Are those your men? Are they all you've got with you?"

"He doesn't even need us to beat you!" I called down.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy demanded Krieg apparently ignoring what I had said. Krieg had ignored me too but the rest of the cooks were looking at me like I was an idiot. "There are two more!" Luffy ended holding out two fingers. I shook my head at his cluelessness.

"Hey why are you counting me in?" Sanji demanded.

Krieg and Zeff glared at each other. Before Krieg put his guns away. "I'll take care of you guys later." He scoffed as he hefted the bag of food up onto his shoulder. "Right now, I need to feed my men." He held the bag like it weighed nothing. "For those of you who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return." Krieg ordered. "The only things I want are the journal, and this ship."

He turned and walked towards the door. He stopped before he left though to speak once more. "However, if you really want to throw your lives away... I'll have to go out of my way, but I'll be happy to send you to the bottom of the ocean!" He looked over his shoulder. "Keep that in mind." He finished as he walked out of the door.

Everyone was looking at Gin as he apologized to Sanji for what Krieg had done.

"I don't need an apology from the likes of you, fool." Zeff answered gruffly. "We are but cooks in this establishment. We'll feed anybody who comes along."

"Owner!" Patty argued. "Why are you siding with Sanji? What's going on here?" He was holding a giant fork with both hands almost like a bo staff.

"Yeah!" Another chef agreed. "This is all his fault! He's going to destroy your precious restaurant!" The chef pointed at Sanji as if to emphasize his point.

"Shut the hell up, you stupid eggplants!" Zeff shouted. Apparently Eggplant was a widely used insult for him.

"Have you ever had the experience of starving to death? Can you imagine how horrible it is? Having no food and water in this vast ocean?" Zeff demanded.

I saw Sanji light a cigarette out of the corner of my eye. Probably for stress relief then. He inhaled, held for about ten seconds then exhaled.

"W-what do you mean, Owner?" Patty asked.

"The difference between all of you and Sanji is that he knows that feeling." Zeff said.

Sanji puffed out another lung full of smoke.

"What does he mean?"

"What does Sanji know about?"

"They don't breed them very bright around here do they." I asked Sanji sitting a few steps above him.

Sanji looked up at me and seemed to freeze in shock before relaxing again. He probably saw my face. I wasn't making an effort to cover it today.

"Rather than just standing idle with petty talk, you'd all better leave this place now!" Zeff ordered.

"I'm staying here. I can't simply let them trample over me!" Patty declared holding the giant fork like a trident.

"Me too. This is where I work!" another chef added.

"I have no place to go anyway." a third contributed.

All the chefs picked up their giant cutlery.

"What are you all doing?! Didn't you see how strong our leader was?" Gin demanded.

"Hey Gin. Feeding the hungry is what being a cook is all about. However," Sanji used a foot to flip an upturned table back into its legs and sat down on it in one smooth motion. "Now that your captain's all filled up, he's nothing more than a plunderer. Whatever I do to your pals, don't come bitchin' at me. I'll kill anyone who tries to take this restaurant! Even you! Got that?"

Gin swallowed nervously at that.

"Heh! You saved his life just to kill him off? You're so thoughtful, Sanji." Patty stated sarcastically.

"Shut up, you fat-ass cook!" Sanji answered.

"Didn't I tell you he was something?" Luffy asked pointing at Sanji.

"Who cares about him now? Let's just get the hell out of here!" Usopp yelled.

"Calm down." Zoro ordered. "Even though he's Krieg, he's all battered up."

"Hm, Gin! You said once before that you knew nothing about the Grand Line, right? But you _have _been there, haven't you?

"The truth is I don't know anything. What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day... Was it a dream? Or reality? It's still fresh in my mind. It was unbelievable. Just one man... Destroyed a whole fleet of 50 ships!"

Everyone looked horrified of what Gin had said. I was even a bit startled even though I had known it had happened.

Usopp looked like he was going to wet himself in fear.

And Luffy looked stunned.

"WHAT?!" everyone in the restaurant yelled at Gin.

"It all happened so suddenly. He came out of nowhere, and started sinking ships one after another. If a storm hadn't come along our maiden ship would've been destroyed too. I have no clue how many of my shipmates survived. But it was too scary for me to accept it all. I don't even want to think about what had happened! That man...His stare pierces through you, like the eyes of a hawk!"

"What!" Zoro suddenly leaned forward grasping the railing of the stairs. "What did you say?"

"That guy..." Zeff said. Gin looked up to listen to him. "He must be the man known as Hawk Eyes. The fact that you noticed his eyes, leads me to believe it _was _him. It sounds like something he would do."

"The Hawk Eyes Man!" Zoro said sounding anxious and excited all at once.

"Eh, you know that guy, Zoro?" Luffy asked.

Zoro took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "That's the man I've been looking for. I sailed across the oceans in search of him."

"Maybe he had some kind of grudge to settle with you guys." Sanji suggested.

"Not that I know of."

"Perhaps you disturbed his nap." Zeff stated.

"Stop the bullshit!" Gin yelled incensed. "Why in the world would he destroy our fleet just for that?"

Zeff chuckled slightly. "Don't get so worked up. I'm just making assumptions. Stuff like that happens at the Grand Line."

"Just what kind of place is that?" Usopp asked.

"A place where anything can happen." Zoro answered.

"Hey Luffy! Stop this right now! We can't go there! Luffy!" Usopp whined.

"Ah. You should relax Usopp. You'll give yourself an ulcer. We'll be fine." I waved away his protest. I slightly excited. A real adventure.

Luffy was practically vibrating in excitement.

"Eh Luffy?" Usopp apparently thought he was shaking in fear.

"Gah! I'm so pumped up!" A huge grin was plastered across Luffy's face. I watched and wondered if his face ever hurt from smiling too much. "I was hoping the Grand Line would have all this!"

"Can't you be more concerned about your safety?" Usopp demanded.

"Why be concerned when you're bulletproof?" I asked rhetorically.

"But with all this talk, now my destination will definitely be the Grand Line." Zoro declared.

I wouldn't be so eager to go against a Shichibukai if I were him. Not until I at least mastered Observation Haki, and got good enough at Armament Haki to block hits.

"That man. I can definitely meet him there!" Zoro declared.

"Are you morons?" Sanji asked.

"You won't have to go that far. He most likely won't leave a job unfinished. Those Krieg idiots led him right to us." I said interrupting what Sanji was going to say and for once everyone paid attention to what I had said.

"No way!" Gin denied fearfully.

"Do you idiots realize what's going on?! Don Krieg's ship is right in front of this restaurant! Do all the talking only after we get out of this mess!" Patty demanded.

"I'm more worried about the Shichibukai then the so-called King of the East Blue. The East Blue is the weakest of the four seas anyway." I said sitting down to meditate once more.

"Now is not a time to sit around!" Patty yelled angrily.

"I'm meditating you idiot." I replied easily shutting my eyes.

"What will that do?!"

"I'm trying to develop my senses." I fudged the truth a bit. Anyone who knew what Haki was would realize what I was doing was trying to unlock it but apparently Haki wasn't common knowledge.

Zeff laughed. "You aren't going to go far teaching yourself that skill." He stated.

I opened my eyes and glared at him. "I don't have a teacher and I have no other special skills. I've managed to do it once and I'll do it again!" I declared.

"Do what?" Luffy asked.

"So you haven't even told your captain?" Zeff asked.

I shrugged. "I didn't want to tell him until I managed to get it to work consistently." I told Zeff before turning to Luffy. "I'm working on developing a skill known as Haki. Color of Observation Haki to be precise. I managed to have it work under stress when Kuro was attacking Usopp. It's how I knew to push him out of the way."

"Doesn't seem like a very safe skill then. Considering you took the hit for me." Usopp stated. "Why would you want to develop that? Are you stupid?"

"My IQ is 125, thank you very much." I sniffed huffily. IQ averaged at 100, anything higher than 130 was considered gifted, while anything under 70 was considered mentally retarded or brain damaged.

"Wow you must be really smart then!" Luffy said.

"Just shy of gifted." I stated proudly. I had always been proud of my intelligence. It was one of the few things I had going for me.

"You're obviously not smart enough if you think you can master Haki without instruction." Zeff snorted.

"I don't have time to search for a teacher. I need to be with my crew!" I said.

A sudden roar drew our attention.

"Here they come. I can hear them."

"We won't let them come closer, 'coz this is our restaurant."

There was a sudden creak and groan as Don Kreig's boat was cut and half and started to sink.

"Hoist the anchor. Or our ship will be pulled under with them." Zeff ordered one of his men.

"Yes boss!" The man ran off carrying a huge pot on a long staff.

Luffy ran out front to see what was going on.

"This is bad! Nami, Yosaku, and Johnny are still on our ship!" Zoro hopped over the railing of the stairs and followed Luffy.

I followed them both.

The sight of a huge galleon sinking is both awe inspiring and horrifying.

"Big Bro! Big Bro!" Johnny and Yosaku called as they swam towards the Baratie.

"Yosaku! Johnny!" Luffy called as he ran to where they were coming towards the ship. "Are you guys okay?"

"Where's the ship?" Zoro asked. "What happened to Nami?"

I was beginning to think he had a crush on her. He was always worried about her safety and all. I would keep that particular observation to myself though.

"She's... I'm sorry, Big Bro! She's left! Nami-Sis, she..." Johnny tried to explain.

"She took off with all the treasure!" Yosaku finished.

"W-what did you just say?!" All three of the guys chorused.

There was an eerie green glow out in the fog. As the glow came closer it was shown to be a few candles on a small boat with a man in the middle.

Zeff's eyes went huge. "It's him."

Zoro looked at him then back out towards the sea. HIs eyes widening.

"That son of a bitch...he followed us!" Kreig said from his position clinging to the piece of his ship that hadn't sunk yet.

The man on the ship looked very relaxed. He had one leg crossed over the other and didn't even move to arm himself as he came closer to his enemy. He was supremely confident and his posture screamed that.

"It can't be..." Zoro's eyes were wide and sweat had started to run down his face. "He is... The man with the Hawk Eyes?!"

**A/n: And this chapter was posted December 1st 2012. Well there goes November. I should've started writing earlier but I had college and I let myself forget that I signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get it next year. I'll be much better at time management by that time. This is the longest chapter I've written so far. So review please and tell me what you think.**

**Oh and if I get a good amount of reviews I might be convinced to give you guys a peak of what's going to be in chapter 9. **

**Oh and I inserted an interesting fact about myself in the story. Guess what it was.  
**

**So everybody review, review, review!**


	8. Zoro vs Hawk Eyes Mihawk

"And that's how we lost the Going Merry." Johnny finished explaining, I had missed the most of the explanation because I had been looking for Hawk Eyes.

"Damn! She took advantage of us!" Zoro punched the side of the Baratie angrily.

"That ship was give to us by Kaya!" Usopp added angrily. Kaya and Usopp sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love then comes marriage, then comes Usopp pushing a baby carriage... I mentally sang feeling only slightly childish. Usopp should've told Kaya he liked her before we left but he hadn't.

"Hold up! I can see it!" Luffy declared. "It's the Going Merry!" He turned to Johnny and Yosaku. "Where's your ship?"

"We still have it, but..." Yosaku started.

"Zoro, Usopp, Hikari, leave right away!" Luffy ordered. "Fetch Nami using their ship."

"Never mind. Let it go." Zoro said raising a hand in a what can you do sort of gesture. "There's no need to chase _that _woman."

Luffy looked down his face covered by his straw hat.

"I refuse to have anyone but _her _as my navigator!" Luffy declared looking up.

Zoro and Luffy had a staring contest for nearly two minutes before Zoro folded. "Fine!" He covered his head as if he couldn't believe he was doing this. "What a pain-in-the-ass captain..."

"Hey Usopp, Hikari, let's go!" Zoro ordered.

Johnny and Yosaku brought their boat around dropping the anchor to make sure it didn't drift. "Zoro-bro, the ship's ready!" They called.

"Luffy, what about you?" Zoro asked turning to look at him.

"I haven't fully repaid this restraurant yet, so I can't go." Luffy explained.

"Do be careful." Zoro warned. Now that I thought about it Zoro was really the mother hen of the crew. He was always warning everyone to be careful. "Things here are abnormal." He added.

"Yeah. I know." Luffy nodded.

The creepy coffin-looking boat drifted closer to the Baratie. I say drifted because the sail was rolled up and there was no visible motion of how it was being propelled.

"Don Krieg! It's that man!" A Krieg pirate yelled fearfully, drawling everyone's attention to the said creepy boat. "That man who destroyed our fleet!"

"That man is..." Zoro said looking at the boat. It looked even creepier up close, eerie green candles glowed on the edges of the boats. Hawk Eyes had his hat tilted over his face making it mostly shadowed. He wore what appeared to be a gold cross around his neck and on his back was the largest sword I had ever seen. His hands were clasped together resting on top of his crossed knee.

"That scum..." I heard Krieg mutter.

"He's come this far to finish us off!" A Krieg pirate whined.

"We're doomed!" Another added.

"Zoro, who the heck is he?" Luffy asked.

"The man I've been searching for, Hawk Eyes Mihawk."

"Hawk Eyes Mihawk?" Luffy repeated questioningly.

"He's currently known as the world's strongest swordsman." I added. almost subconsciously pushing my hair behind an ear letting the wind caress my scars for once not worried about people seeing them. I needed full range of vision for what was going to happen soon.

Mihawk was dressed in shades of purple and black. He had a long sleeved purple shirt with odd decorations on it, open at the front revealing a well sculpted chest. He had on almost lavender pants, held up with a brown belt and tucked into brown boots. He wore a black almost cape thing over his shirt. It was nearly sleeveless and was purple on the underside. His hat was almost like his cape thing. Black on the topside and purple on the underside with a white plume.

"That's the guy who instantly sank Krieg's fleet of 50 ships, which should've withstood the Grand Line?" Patty asked looking stressed beyond belief.

"And he just destroyed Krieg's last ship!" A chef, I thought was called Carne added.

"But, he looks no different from any ordinary person." Another chef added. "And he doesn't appear to be armed with anything special."

"Are you blind or just stupid?" I demanded whirling around to face the chefs. "That isn't a giant cross on his back idiots. That's the cross-guard."

"That's a sword?!" One of the chefs demanded incredulous.

"He used _that _sword to cut the boat?"

"Hm." I confirmed turning to look back towards Hawk Eyes. I wasn't quite willing to have my back to him. I knew he had no reason to go after me or my crew but I just wouldn't trust my life to someone I didn't even know. And with that sword he would have no trouble ending it, my life that is.

"He's the great swordsman, Hawk Eyes. A swordsman, above all of the world's swordsmen." Zeff explained

Mihawk finally lifted his head revealing the eyes that had given him his alias.

Zoro looked nervous and excited all at the same time. He was ready for a fight.

"Bastard!"

"Why did you attack us?" Krieg's pirates demanded.

Mihawk turned to look at them out of his peripheral vision. "To kill time." His voice was deep and monotone. There was no real emotion in it.

"Bullshit!" The pirate that had demanded why they were attacked pulled out two pistols.

Mihawk drew his sword and pointed it towards the man. The man shot off both pistols at the same time. Mihawk waited until the bullets had just past the tip of his sword before tilting it slightly causing the bullets to bounce off the side and making the angle of the shot miss him by centimeters.

He had balls, that was for sure. He had to to only change the angle so slightly. A small miscalculation could led to death.

The Krieg pirates apparently didn't see what had happened.

Wait, if they didn't see it how did I?

"W-what?"

"I was sure I was right on target!" The shooter said. Zoro had snuck up behind him sometime during the fiasco.

"It deviated." Zoro stated. The shooter turned startled to see Zoro there. "He redirected it with the tip of his sword."

"That's ridiculous!" One of the Krieg pirates exclaimed.

Mihawk sheathed his sword again.

"It is." I agreed appearing beside Zoro. "He's got balls of steel. Imagine if you were just slightly off with that technique." I added. "Not to mention he probably didn't have much practice in it. That's not something you make into training. One mistake and you could get yourself killed or permanently disabled."

Zoro ignored me and stepped forward on hand on Wado.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?" The shooter demanded of Zoro then turned to me. "And you too!"

"Me?" I asked innocently pointing a finger at my own chest.

**"Akai D. Hikari."** Rai ordered.

"I'm Akai D. Hikari." I parroted easily.

"Red Dawn?" He asked dumbly. I blinked. I hadn't realized it could be translated to that.

Zoro was still moving forward and he had apparently drawn the other pirates' attentions again.

"Swords, three of 'em! Could it be...?" One pirate asked his eyes wide and shocked.

"I've never seen such graceful skill." Zoro called out to Mihawk.

"A sword with power alone is not powerful." Hawk Eyes replied. His eye, visible now, seemed to have a weird six star design in it.

"So this ship was cut apart with that sword, too?" Zoro asked

"Of course." Hawk Eyes answered.

"It's clear now. You're the strongest!" Zoro exclaimed.

Mihawk didn't move.

"I've been sailing the seas to face you." Zoro declared.

"What is your mission?" Mihawk asked.

"To be the best!" Zoro tied his bandana around his head, as he did for all his serious fights. It cast shadows around his eyes giving him the "Demon" look he was well known for.

"Hn." Mihawk smirked at that. "Fool."

Zoro drew Wado and held it out in front of him. A challenge. "You've got time to spare, don't you? Let's duel, shall we?"

"This guy is..." a Krieg pirate started.

"Zoro! The "Three Swords" Roronoa Zoro!" Another pirate finished.

"What?!" A third pirate exclaimed.

"Pirate Hunter, eh?" Krieg stated from his position on top of his mostly sunk ship.

"That guy?" Sanji asked.

"Hey! Things are getting worse, Luffy!" Usopp complained from his position on Yosaku and Johnny's ship. "Going Merry is about to be gone from our sights!"

"Hey Luffy!"

"Duel?" Mihawk questioned. "Such a pitiful weakling."

Within a second and barely a movement, Mihawk was suddenly on the same piece of driftwood Zoro, the Krieg, and I were standing.

"Haki?" I asked under my breath.

Mihawk turned his chilling gold eyes towards me, judging me, before turning back towards Zoro. "If you really were a fine swordsman, you should've been able to judge the difference in strength without drawing your sword. Challenging me... Are you that brave? Or simply reckless?"

"This is for my own ambition!" Zoro declared a large grin settling on his face. He put Wado's hilt in his mout and grabbed his other blades with his hands.

How did he strengthen his jaw to handle sword strikes anyway?

"And for a promise to my fallen friend."

How did he talk around his sword? Was he a ventriloquist?

"The world's greatest swordsman Hawk Eyes Mihawk vs Pirate Hunter Zoro." Patty stated. "What kind of fight will it turn out to be?" He wondered.

"No one can win against Big Bro!" Yosaku stated naively. I hated to say it but Zoro wasn't quite that level yet. Plus no one could really be the strongest. There was always room for improvement. No matter how good you got.

"Big Bro's the best!" Johnny too.

Mihawk yanked on the cross around his neck and the string came apart easily. He held the top part of the cross with his right hand and pulled the bottom part away revealing a small dagger.

"Hey now, what's the meaning of this?" Zoro demanded.

"I'm unlike those idiots who use their all to hunt rabbits. Though you're famous enough to be called a swordsman, this is the weakest of the four oceans, East Blue. Unfortunately, I'm carrying nothing smaller than this." His face changed to a sort of condescending frown.

I decided it was time to make like a banana and split and ran towards the side of the floating wood to dive into the water and quickly paddle away. I didn't want to be anywhere near there when the collateral damaged started to happen. I paddled a good distance away then turned to watch the fight from the water.

"Quit mocking me!" Zoro was losing his temper. He charged forward recklessly. "Just don't regret it when you die!"

"You are someone who hasn't had any experience in the _real _world."

"Demon..." Zoro launched himself at Mihawk. "Cut!" There was a clang as all three of Zoro's swords were stopped by the point of Mihawk's dagger.

"Wh-what?!" Zoro looked incredulous.

"Zoro!" Luffy was startled almost as much as Zoro.

"Big Bro's demon technique was broken!" Johnny sounded like it was something unbelievable.

"But, that has always worked 100% of the time! What in the world happened?!" Yosaku added.

I rolled my eyes.

"Mihawk didn't get his title by looking bad-ass. He worked for it. If Zoro wants to beat him he's going to have to work harder then Mihawk, or wait until Mihawk get's too old to fight or dies." I said treading water.

"The world shouldn't be this far off!" Zoro declared unlocking his swords and drawing back for another strike. Then he began striking wildly. He swiped relentlessly and Mihawk barely moved to block the strikes each time.

"He's wasting energy. Mihawk is barely moving. Zoro's going to exhaust himself before Mihawk does and when that happens he'll lose." I muttered.

"Shut up!" Both Johnny and Yosaku shouted at me angrily.

Mihawk lifted his dagger from a block hard sending Zoro flying backwards to land on his side.

"This can't be happening, Big Bro!" Yosaku turned to worry about Zoro some more. "Please fight seriously!"

"You honestly believe he's holding back? Zoro's wanted that title for ages. He wouldn't hold back when the title is only a victory away?" I demanded in a voice that questioned whether they were that stupid.

"Big Bro!" Johnny shouted.

Zoro pulled himself back to his feet. "I can't possibly be this far away!"

He ran forward with more rapid slashes. Mihawk dodged most of the hits only blocking when he had to.

"Such untrained skill." Mihawk observed as he blocked Zoro's right hand sword.

Zoro roared as he swung his head to the side to send his mouth sword slashing towards Mihawk. It was blocked as well.

"Just with that thing, he's taking on all of Zoro's three swords!" The Krieg pirates were back to commenting on the fight. "That's a monster superior to monsters!"

Zoro continued to slash at Mihawk recklessly and relentlessly.

"I...I didn't come all this way to lose against this toy-like thing!" Zoro declared still swinging wildly.

Zoro slashed again but over extended as Mihawk stepped to the side and slammed the hilt of his dagger into the back of Zoro's neck.

"To become the greatest in the world..." Zoro stumbled to his feet once more and stood across from Mihawk. He staggered forward and took a slow right sword strike only for Mihawk to step to the side and let him fall to the ground.

Zoro laid on his back panting harshly. Before tilting his head to look up at Mihawk.

"What's your mission?" Mihawk repeated his earlier question. "Why do you seek the ultimate power, you weakling?"

"Big bro's a weakling you say? You damn bastard!" Yosaku unsheathed his sword.

"I'll teach you a thing or two!" Johnny added also drawing his sword as they leaped from the Baratie.

"Stop! Yosaku! Johnny!" Luffy stopped them by grabbing them with his gum gum powers. "Don't interfere! Just hang on!"

What idiots. If Zoro was losing this badly they would be murdered.

"Luffy..?" Usopp whispered.

Zoro stood to full height again. "I can't afford to lose!"

Zoro moved her swords to the position he had used against Cabaji all the way back in Orange Town. "Tiger...Hunting Prey!" Zoro roared.

Mihawk slipped in between the two striking swords and had the dagger pressed into his chest. Slowly a few drops of blood dripped onto the wood beneath him.

"Do you wish to have this go through your heart?" Mihawk asked. "Why don't you step back?"

"I don't know." Zoro answered, blood was trailing from his mouth too. "I'm not sure myself. But if I were to take even one step back, I believe that all those important oaths, promises, and many other deals til now, will all go to waste and I'll never be able to return before you, ever again."

He wouldn't back down because he felt it would be shameful to retreat, especially because he had declared the duel.

"Yes, and that's called 'losing'." Mihawk frowned and his eyes turned darker in his anger.

"That's why I can't step back." A path of blood had made its way down Zoro's front.

"Even if it means death?" Mihawk asked.

"Death may be better!"

Mihawk pulled his dagger out of Zoro's chest. Oddly enough no blood showed on his blade.

Mihawk stepped back and sheathed his dagger once more. "Kid, announce your name!" Mihawk ordered.

Zoro moved so his right hand sword was pointed up at a 10 o'clock position and the left so it was at a 7 o'clock position. "Roronoa Zoro!"

"I'll remember that!" Mihawk stated pulling his sword from his back. "It's been a while since I've seen such strong will. As a reward, a gesture to a fellow swordsman, I will wield this 'Black Sword', the most powerful sword in the world, to end your life."

"I appreciate you offer." Zoro answered.

"It's out!" a Krieg pirate exclaimed. "The sword that cut the ship!"

"That's enough, Big Bro!" Johnny yelled grasping his hair in panic. "Please stop!"

Yosaku had his hands clasped in front of his face, praying.

"Three Sword Secret Technique!" Zoro started rotating the two swords in his hands both in opposite directions.

Mihawk moved forward, his sword held out in front of him.

"Three thousand Realms!" Zoro slashed outwards just as Mihawk passed him and sliced across and ended with his sword holding out behind him diagonally.

Nothing happened for an instant, then... Zoro's two swords broke into pieces and cuts started gushing blood across his chest.

Zoro used his hands to brance himself in a kneeling position. He silently re-sheathed Wado carefully. Then turned to face Mihawk and held his arms out wide away from his chest.

"What now?" Mihawk questioned.

Zoro grinned. "Attacking from behind is a shameless act among swordsmen."

"Well said." Mihawk declared. He sliced harshly diagonally across Zoro's chest.

Blood flew from the cut and Luffy roared in anger and worry. "Zoro!"

"Zoro!" Usopp echoed equally worried.

"Big Bro!"

I had already started swimming towards where he was falling. He fell backwards, and his sword flew from his hand. I grabbed Wado as I passed it and moved it to my own mouth to avoid it getting it in the way.

Gross it taste like blood, metal, and sake. How can Zoro stand it?

I dove under water and swam the short distance to where Zoro had sunk. He hadn't sunk much. Natural buoyancy keeping him from sinking too far. I draped him over my back and pushed his hands together hoping he could at least clench them together to make my movement easier. He couldn't.

I growled to myself as I held his arms around my neck with one hand and swam back to the surface. I coughed out water. Wado had prevented me from keeping my mouth closed completely. I spat Wado out and put it gently on the platform Zoro and Mihawk had been fighting I used a good amount of effort to shove Zoro up onto the platform before pulling myself up after.

I hadn't heard what was happening while I was underwater and was shocked to see Luffy with his head stuck in the wood..

"You're the young swordsman's comrade?" Mihawk asked Luffy. "Thank you for watching over him.

I was listening with half an ear as I yanked the ruined remains of Zoro's shirt off of him. I ripped it into a couple squares and quickly went to work wiping excess blood from his wounds. The salt water had washed most of the blood away.

I heard Luffy finally manage to yank his head free.

"Rest assure, that man is still alive." Mihawk told Luffy. "Look, the look-a-like is already tending to him." He gestured to me.

Look-a-like?

Luffy voiced my question.

"Does she not remind you of Red Haired Shanks?" Mihawk asked.

I heard a few of the Krieg pirates agree with his observations.

"She has red hair."

"She even has three scars over her eye."

I tried to ignore their words and kept working on Zoro.

"He's going to need stitches." I muttered to myself. I shuddered of the thought of having to sew human flesh but if I didn't do something I doubted Yosaku, Johnny or Usopp could. I knew Luffy couldn't.

Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku pulled the boat over to where Zoro and I were. I gestured for Yosaku to get Wado and helped Johnny heave him onto the ship with the help of Usopp.

"Here's medicine apply it quickly." Usopp ordered.

I whacked Yosaku and Johnny over the head as they tried to apply medicine to Zoro.

"I'll handle it. You'll probably kill him with drug overdose." I muttered.

"I thought you said you weren't a doctor?" Usopp complained.

"Neither are you. At least I know more than you." I grumbled as I looked through the kit for a needle and stitches thread.

"It's still too early for you to die." Mihawk spoke. "My name is Juraquille Mihawk! Find your true self, true world, become stronger! No matter how long it will take, I will await you in my strongest form! Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!" He challenged.

"Big Bro! Big Bro! Say something!" Johnny and Yosaku were hovering and getting in my way.

"Shut up idiots! It'd be better if he was unconscious for the stitches. They're going to hurt like a bitch without any pain meds."

Mihawk turned to Luffy and said something.

"He's alive!"

"He just lost consciousness!" Usopp declared.

"Big Bro!"

"Big Bro, say something!"

"Zoro!"

Zoro raised Wado with his right hand straight in the air. "Luffy can you hear me?" He asked.

"Yeah!"

Zoro was panting with exhaustion now. "Sorry for worrying you. If I don't become the greatest swordsman in the world, you'd be in a dilemma now, right?" Zoro coughed sending a glob of blood flying out of his mouth.

"Big Bro. Don't say anymore!" Johnny begged.

"Big Bro!"

"I will...I will never..."

Everyone was dead silent listening to Zoro's words.

"...LOSE AGAIN!" Zoro declared loudly tears coming out of both of his eyes. "Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I'll never be defeated anymore!"

Even Mihawk grinned at that, though his was more predatory than anything else.

"Any problems with that, Pirate King?" Zoro demanded.

Luffy laughed. "None!"

"Good team. I hope we meet again."

"Hold on there, Hawk Eyes!" Krieg had obviously used the time during Zoro's fight to work up some balls. Unfortunately it didn't seem like he managed to find any brains. "Didn't you come for my head? East Blue's greatest, Don Krieg's head?"

Mihawk stopped. "That was my initial intention. But I've had more than enough fun. I'm headed back to sleep."

Krieg cracked his neck. "It may have been enough fun for you, but I haven't done my bit yet." Just when I thought he couldn't get any more stupid, he had to prove me wrong.

"Don?"

"Why is he intentionally stopping him?!"

Apparently his crew though he was stupid too.

"Die before you go!" Krieg revealed all of his guns and opened fire.

"A true fool." Mihawk turned and pulled his sword.

A huge cloud of smoke obscured what happened.

"He got away." Krieg scoffed.

The platform they had been standing on had been mostly destroyed.

"Usopp!" Luffy called.

"Luffy."

"Get going! Take care of Nami."

"Gottcha! Me, Zoro, and Hikari will definitely get Nami back! You just make that cook one of us! Then we'll be a party of six and head to the Grand Line!" Usopp threw Luffy's hat towards the Baratie. Luffy's arm stretched out to grab it.

"Yeah! Now go!"

"Men! With the interruption gone, the real fight has just begun!" Krieg declared. "Let's get that ship!"

"YEAH!"

"Old man, if I get rid of 'em, can we call it even?"

"Do as you please."

We pulled farther away after that and I couldn't hear anymore.

I turned my attention back to Zoro.

"Do you guys have any alcohol on board?" I directed my question towards Yosaku and Johnny.

"I think we have some rum."

"Go get it."

Johnny disappeared and reappeared with a bottle of rum.

"This will barely be enough to get him buzzed." I muttered disappointed.

"You wanna get him drunk?!"

"It will make the pain less clear!" I argued back.

"It's fine." Zoro said.

I looked down at him. "Are you sure? Once I start with the stitches I'm not going to stop for you to get some booze."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I trust you." Zoro said before closing his eyes.

He trusted me? With what? To make sure he got stitched up? To keep my word?

I shook the thought away and quickly sterilized the needle with a little alcohol and fire then got the needle threaded. The first few stitches were widely spaced but I quickly learned to make them closer and tighter so the skin would heal better and release less blood.

By the time I was done I was mentally exhausted. My hands were coated in blood, and shook slightly. I quickly tied off the stitches and dropped the needle into a bit of alcohol and sterilized it again before putting it away.

"Hikari-Sis? Are you okay? You're shaking." Johnny asked.

"I have mild Hemophobia." I admitted as I used a piece of gauze to wipe away the excess blood on Zoro's chest before using the remainder of the roll to wrap the stitches completely to protect them from the elements.

They all stared at me like I was crazy.

"You didn't even seemed to mind when you were tending Zoro." Yosaku pointed out.

"He was in danger and he's a friend. I wasn't going to let him bleed to death or be stuck with your horrible stitches when I could do something about it." I answered.

"My stitches aren't that bad!" All three protested.

"You could have sewn 196 stitches without messing up?" I asked

The fell silent at that. Apparently they hadn't realized the wound was that bad.

"He'll be fine. He'll need to rest for a while to at least let the layer of skin grow over the gash before he gets hurt again." I explained dipping my hand into the ocean and scrubbing away the blood harshly.

I hadn't ever seen so much blood. Even though I was sort of used to my own blood due to Aunt Flow visiting once a month I still wasn't comfortable with it.

**A/n: Okay I think that's enough for this chapter. Now for the teaser for chapter ten. I know I said it would be for chapter nine but I didn't think this chapter would be so long... Sorry.**

"Look! Hikari you have a bounty poster too!"

"Hikari the look-a-like?" I asked having a bad feeling about this.

"Oh wow! 20 million beli! That's just under mine!" Luffy said excited.

"But I didn't do anything to get a bounty like that!"

It wasn't a bad picture considering it was on a bounty poster. My head was thrown back and I was grinning widely as I laughed at something someone had said. The lighting showcased my scars especially making them stand out a lot. My hair was cascading over my shoulders in little ringlets and my eyes were closed.

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

HIKARI THE LOOK-A-LIKE

B 20,000,000

Twenty million. No matter how many times I though it, it didn't make sense.

"It's awesome!" Luffy declared.

"No it's not!" Nami protested.

It was one of the few times I agreed with Nami.

"I don't have any super power or skill! I'll be killed if someone comes after my bounty!" I protested.

"What about that magical see the future thing?" Luffy asked

I barely restrained from face-palming.

"It's called Haki, and I'm an amateur with it."

Luffy ignored me. He seemed to do that with anything that he didn't agreed with.

"Hikari-chan! You're so cute when you're worried!" Sanji called out doing his noodle-heart dance thing.

I repressed a flinch when he called me cute. I had never been a vain person but the scars on my face made me feel ugly and it felt like people were lying when they said otherwise.

**A/n: Okay that's it for the sneak peek. Tell me what you think about Hikari's alias. And what do you think about Hikari's attitude during the fight. I made her really cynical. Probably because she knew what was going to happen and had no clue how to change anything. Oh well. She'll be back to her normal cheerful self soon. I hope.**

**Oh, my next chapter may take a bit longer. Finals are coming up soon.  
**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	9. Near Death and Boons With Strings

The smell of blood lingered well after I had scrubbed it from my skin. It hung around me like a ghastly smelling curtain. I tried to scrub my hands more firmly in the water but the smell was practically imbedded. I would need to use a ton of soap to get the smell off.

"Hikari?" Zoro asked as he leaned over my shoulder to see what I was doing.

He had been up since about an hour ago. I had scolded him until I was practically blue in the face but he hadn't heeded my warnings anymore than a whale would avoid the water.

"What are you doing?" He demanded pulling my hands out of the water. I winced when I noticed the damage my scrubbing had done. They were red and raw. The salt water hadn't been helping any.

I looked down guiltily. I hadn't meant to hurt myself. Zoro was way over protective when it came to our crew. I hadn't really registered it but he was. Especially with us females of the crew. It was like he was worried we'd do something stupid and get ourselves killed. Wasn't that what happened to his friend? Kuina or something? My limited knowledge of the story was getting even more limited.

"I can't stand the smell of blood." I admitted softly feeling weak, especially admitting it to one of the strongest people on the crew.

"Tch." Zoro made a dissatisfied noise, gently pulling my hands up closer to his face so he could examine the damage more thoroughly. "Should heal in a few hours." He said once he was satisfied with his inspection. "No more scrubbing." he warned me before sitting down next to me.

"Okay." I felt a yawn build up and before I could stop it, it escaped my mouth.

"Tired?" Zoro asked his voice was undeniably amused.

"Yeah." I mumbled leaning back against the railing of the boat. "Just a little nap. Wake me when we get there." I mumbled. I felt my muscles relax and before I lost all awareness I felt myself slide to the side so I was leaning against Zoro's shoulder.

"Tch." Zoro scoffed, but there was no serious irritation behind the sound. A warm arm wrapped around my shoulder pulling me closer to his side.

"Hmm." I mumbled satisfied with my new pillow and drifted off to sleep.

It was an undetermined amount of time later that I was woke up by Usopp's worried voice. "Tie her up too. She'll take Zoro's side."

I barely had my eyes open before I was tied roughly against the cabin of the small ship, beside Zoro.

"Ah!" I complained in pain. The ropes pinched my skin uncomfortably.

Usopp and Johnny turned as soon as they heard me.

"You awake then?" Johnny asked. Sounding entirely too cocky for my liking.

"What's the meaning of this? Untie me!" Zoro demanded angrily, leaning forward against the ropes. I scooted around so I was closer to Zoro where the ropes pulled out slightly because of both his size and the way he was leaning forward. I rotated so I was sideways, with my head in his lap then rolled forward away from the rope.

I grinned at my success and quickly ran around the side. I could hear Usopp taunting Zoro quietly seeming to forget that I was supposed to be tied up too. I found Zoro's sword and quickly cut the ropes holding him from the back. I heard Usopp and Johnny splash as they abandoned ship. Zoro yelled angrily after them I hurried over to him and quickly cut the ropes around his feet. I just managed to give him his sword when the mermen jumped into the ship.

"Ah!" I yelped falling sideways out of Zoro's way and away from the mermen.

"What? Just one guy and a wimpy little girl."

I resented that, but considering the little bit of martial arts I knew would be useless against a mermen I let it go.

Zoro easily knocked the two out. The were too busy thinking they were superior to actually take action.

I pulled some rope off the pile from around the cabin and quickly tied their hands and feet together and to each other. I wasn't sure how well the rope would hold but it would give us a few seconds warning if they woke up even if they could break out of it.

I grabbed hold of the rudder and turned us so we were headed to the now empty pier. Apparently the third one ran off somewhere. I tied us to the dock and Zoro jumped off the ship.

"Where are we going?" I asked only to realize how stupid I was asking directions from someone as directionally challenged as Zoro.

"Never mind. You can't even tell left from right." I sighed. I looked around and decided going forward would be best.

Zoro growled at me.

"Knock it off. If it wasn't for me you'd be tied up at the mercy of those mermen."

"Thanks." Zoro muttered after a few beats of silence.

"We make an okay team, huh?" I asked.

"Aa." He agreed.

"I'm hungry. How about you?" I asked.

"Aa." Zoro agreed again.

"Let's go find something to eat." I suggested.

Zoro nodded and tried to go left but I quickly grabbed his wrist and tugged him along behind me like a dog on a leash.

We walked for awhile until we were suddenly jumped. The two mermen from earlier had brought some friends to get back at us. I was quickly shoved away from Zoro. I dodged several shots of some kind of spikes but I was struggling. There were two after me and Zoro was facing four.

Damn. I can't keep dodging forever. That does it. I'm getting some kind of weapon at Logue Town. I can't keep relying on just my limited abilities with Haki. I saw another spike coming and leapt away. The spike hit the ground quite a bit after I had already moved. It was like I had known it was going to hit before it hit.

Dodge. Duck. Dip. Dive. Dodge. Where have I heard that before? I shock the thought away even as I leaped to the side to avoid another spike. I nearly jumped into the other merman's arms but quickly ducked out of his arms and rolled forward.

I took a second to glance over at Zoro. He had disabled two of the merman but one of them was an angler fish merman and the light that hung from his forehead flashed annoyingly ever so often blinding Zoro when he was least expecting it.

I 'saw' a spike coming for my back and leapt out of the way but this time I leapt the wrong way and landed in a merman's arms.

"Gotcha now, girly." He grunted squeezing his arms around my torso and pinning my arms to my side. I kicked wildly, thrashing in his arms.

"ZORO!" I yelled as I continued to struggle.

"Damn girl." the merman grunted.

Zoro knocked out another of the mermen and turned to face the angler fish merman who quickly flashed a light at him.

He wasn't going to get to me anytime soon. I struggled in my position. I was held about two feet of the ground, pinned to the chest of a rather large merman, with both arms pinned to my sides.

I gave a dramatic sounding gasp and slumped in the merman's hold dropping my head forward and closing my eyes to all but enough to see through my eyelashes. The sudden redistribution of weight threw him off.

The merman grunted slightly and tried to readjust his grip on me. That's when I struck. I lashed backwards, driving my heel into his groin. He grunted in pain, his arms loosening automatically. I threw both my arms outward even as I dropped to the ground. As I hit the ground I spun and snapped a sidekick into the merman's midsection. He grunted as the air was forced out of him. I dropped my foot to the ground and then brought it back up in a front snap kick. This one he grabbed angrily hauling me into the air by my foot.

I felt dazed as the blood rushed to my head. I struggled but not even half as much as I had before.

Zoro was still battling the angler fish merman who kept flashing the light in Zoro's eyes whenever he got close. And it wasn't like Zoro could fight him with his eyes closed.

"She did a number on you, didn't she?" The spiked merman asked. The one holding me grunted.

"She'd almost be cute, if she wasn't a human. And she didn't have those horridly ugly scars." Spike continued.

I felt pain stab in my heart. If creatures as unattractive as these merman could call me ugly, how attractive could I really be? I suddenly wanted a face mask. And a cloak. And to never show my face again. I could fight with a face mask, right? Sure that one Supernova did, what was his name? Killer? That sounded about right.

Zoro had finally cut down his opponent and turned to attack Spike. Spike kept him at a distance my shooting spikes at him.

I hung limp in the merman's hold.

"Hikari?!" Zoro sounded worried.

"I'm alive." I reassured.

"Good. Stay that way." He replied before turning his attention back to Spike.

Suddenly a hand grabbed me around my neck and let go of my foot. I was now dangling nearly two feet of the ground hanging by my neck. I gasped then squirmed. There wasn't enough air! I couldn't breath. Was he going to strangle me? Was I going to die here? With help only a few feet away but occupied?

Black spots dotted my vision. My eyes fluttered closed and I couldn't find the energy to reopen them. Then everything went black...

I was woken with a splash as I was thrown into the water. My eyes opened instinctively and I started to struggle wildly. I had half a mouth full of water because I hadn't had enough warning to draw a breath.

Wasn't nearly dying once enough?

**"Fuck! You're doing everything in your power to make me break the contract aren't you?"** Rai was back and I really wished he'd just disappear.

'What do you want? If it isn't something useful, leave me to die in peace.' I thought back angrily. It was his fault I was in this position in the first place. I would've been happy sticking to reading and writing fanfictions than to actually be stuck in the story. It was way too dangerous for my tastes.

**"Ah come on, Hikari. I'm about to grant you a boon."** Rai wheedled.

'I'm sensing a but.' I replied.

**"Ah, you caught me. If you accept the favor you have to do something for me."** Rai agreed.

'What's the boon? And what would I have to do for you?" I asked cautiously.

**"I'll expand your Haki for you. I'll even throw in Haoshoku Haki." **Rai stated.

'And in return?' I asked cautiously.

**"You have to stop the death of Portgas D. Ace in around 3 months."** Rai stated.

I thought about it. Could I save Ace? Not currently, maybe when I get stronger.

'What's the consequence if I'm not strong enough to save Ace?' I asked.

**"You'll turn into a vegetable." **he stated like it was an everyday occurrence. **"This is a one time offer, so choose wisely."**

Why did it feel like I was making a deal with the devil?

'I accept.'

**"So it shall be."** Rai laughed and I suddenly felt the feeling of dealing with the devil return three-fold.

It felt like I had been hit with a ball of lightning. A sudden flash of pain and hit then it drained away to be replaced with a low throbbing. Everything went black for the second time in so much time.

I was woke what felt like a few moments later as a bo staff was driven into my stomach. I gagged and coughed and spit out a bunch of water before hastily gasping for air.

"Leave her alone you witch!" Zoro demanded. I turned to see who he was talking to. It was Nami. I felt my eyes flutter closed. I was too tired to keep them open, but I could still hear what was going on around me. I could feel the water drizzle down my face from my hair in little rivulets and they had helped create the small pool of water I was currently laying in. I heard yelling and then Zoro grunted in pain several times.

I struggled to turn my head to look but I was too tired to manage.

"Hey, Nami. What are you planning for them?"

"Lock them up. I'll deal with them later." Nami's voice answered.

"Mind if I have the girl? I could use a little fun." A different voice asked.

I shuddered at the layered meaning.

"Forget it." Nami scolded.

"Arlong! Arlong!" Another new voice pipped up urgently.

"What's wrong Bud?" A voice, Arlong's I was guessing, answered back. It was the same as the voice that asked what Nami was going to do with us.

"Forgive me. There was this long-nosed guy who was with him, but I failed to capture him. I think he fled into Cocoyashi Village, but..." the merman trailed off.

"Cocoyashi Village?" Arlong's voice echoed. "Good timing. I have some errands there. Shall I pay them a visit?" he asked rhetorically.

I felt myself hefted onto someone's shoulder but couldn't move even if I wanted to. I was dumped several minutes later in a cold room. There was a quick pinch around my wrists as they were quickly bound together behind my back with coarse rope.

I let my awareness drift as my exhaustion took its toll. I had nearly died twice and I had been given some super haki that made me feel like I had stuck my hand on an electric fence, not to mention I had been hit in the gut with a bo staff. I wasn't feeling up to staying awake.

What seemed like a short time later I was being picked up gently bridal style. I moaned softly as the movement jostled my stomach, I was sure it was bruised.

"Shh." Zoro soothed gruffly. He wasn't very good at the comforting thing, apparently.

I relaxed. It was Zoro. I was safe. I let myself drift back to sleep.

I was asleep for awhile until I was jolted awake by the abrupt shifting of my position. I grumbled wordlessly for a second.

"Just wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my stomach." Zoro ordered irritatedly. I opened my eyes and found a blur of light green obscuring my vision. I was confused for a second before I realized. Piggy back then. I decided and did as instructed hanging off of Zoro like a koala or some other climbing/hanging creature.

I closed my eyes again and barely paid attention to the discussion between Zoro and the octopus merman, Hachi. The gentle swaying as Zoro got into the pot thing, helped me drift off to sleep.

I slept deeply and was only awakened by a sudden yelling and a sudden jolting crash.

"You bastard...What the hell are you doing?" Zoro exclaimed angrily, throwing a large piece of wood to the side.

"Ouch." I muttered, feeling several new bruises forming and a few scratches.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked Zoro as he patted the dirt from his vest. Sanji was sitting beside him, his hair mused and he looked worn.

"We've come to take Nami back." Luffy stated staring at Zoro wide eyed. "You haven't found her yet? Oh yeah. Where are Usopp and Johnny?" he added as an afterthought.

"Usopp? That's right! This isn't the time to be idling around." Zoro got up and started running. As soon as he moved Sanji saw me. I flinched as I saw him go heart-eyed on me.

"Ah! The lovely Hikari-chwan!" He cooed staring at me with his heart-eye and his hands clenched in front of his chest.

"What happened?" Luffy asked Zoro ignoring my plight.

"He was caught by Arlong. If we don't hurry, he'll be killed."

"He's dead." Johnny interrupted coming from the direction of Arlong Park.

"What?"

"It's too late. Usopp-Bro is dead. He was killed! By Nami-Sis!

**A/n: Sorry I stopped the chapter so soon but I wanted to at least get something up to get you guys by. The rest of the Arlong ark will be in the next chapter and I might get it up in a couple of days. I don't really like this ark all that much. I prefer the Logue Town ark. Anyway. I'll leave you go with this. I'm sorry. I made Hikari practically sleep through the whole chapter... I also apologize for how short the chapter is. It's practically half as long as the previous shortest chapter. I really am sorry about that. I promise I'll have the next half out soon and it will be at least 4,000 words. Scouts honor.  
**

**Oh who do you guys think Hikari should be with? And what sort of weapon do you think she should get? I just want to see what you guys' suggestions would be.  
**

**Anyway. Review and tell me what you think.**


	10. The Battle of Arlong Park

I felt my heart clench.

_"It's too late. Usopp-Bro is dead. He was killed! By Nami-Sis!"_

The horrid sentence was stuck on replay in my head. I knew it wasn't true. I knew it wasn't, but it still felt like something made entirely of lead had sunken into my chest where my heart was supposed to be.

_Usopp-Bro is dead. _

_Usopp-Bro is dead. _

_Usopp-Bro is dead._

My mind tortured me.

I hadn't realized how much Usopp meant to me already. I had just meet him a week or so ago. I hadn't know him that long at all. Apparently he had a way of just inching into your heart like that. To be truthful I had always been irritated by Usopp the most after Nami and suddenly realizing I really cared about him a lot shocked me.

It also made me realize. These guys weren't just characters in my favorite anime anymore. These were real flesh and blood people. Real flesh and blood people who were now my friends and maybe even family in some cases.

Usopp was like an annoying younger brother, sort of like my actual younger brother, but more likeable in some ways. For instance I was positive Usopp would at least listen to me when I talked to him. That and I was positive he would defend me unlike my biological brothers. My brothers had often stood by and watched as their friends tore my self-esteem and self-confidence to pieces. They didn't really care about my feelings, not really. But I could already tell that Usopp wouldn't do the same thing. He was nothing if not loyal to a fault.

Zoro was like the older brother/best guy friend I always wished I could've had. He was somewhat aloft, a little distant, and a lot lazy but he was there. Grumpy disposition and all, I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Luffy was like the insane cousin you didn't really know what to do with but he was hell of fun just to be around, even if he did drive you crazy half of the time.

Nami was like the kleptomaniac little sister that needed to be slapped upside of the head some times, but I wouldn't trade her for the world either.

I hadn't really categorized Sanji yet. He hadn't been around long enough to inch his way into a niche in my heart so I figured I would have to wait and see about him.

_Usopp-Bro is dead. _

_Usopp-Bro is dead. _

_Usopp-Bro is dead._

I knew it wasn't true, so why didn't the horrible words go away?

Because it hurt. It hurt to hear that one of my precious people was dead even if he wasn't and I knew he wasn't. Precious people. My friends. My nakama. They were my nakama. They all were.

"Is that true?!" Yosaku words drew me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, it's horrible." Johnny said, sitting down criss-cross applesauce. Oh God, I can't believe I just thought the words 'criss-cross applesauce' that's what I get for going on a field trip with my four year old cousin as a chaperone. Brain bleach please. He sat down Indian Style. Fuck being politically correct. Anything to avoid saying/thinking 'criss-cross applesauce' ever again.

"That woman's a witch." Johnny continued. "In order to obtain some hidden treasure in Cocoyashi Village for herself, she was kissing up to Arlong! And to do so she killed without even thinking about it. She's a rotten heart-ed low-life! We've been fooled all this time!"

"Bastard!" Luffy suddenly shouted hauling Johnny up by his shirt front. Luffy's hat tumbled off his head and he didn't even reach for it so busy with his current threat. "Say that one more time and I'll kill you!" He was practically shaking with pent up anger and energy.

"Stop it Luffy, this has nothing to do with Johnny." Zoro tried to defend his old partner.

"You don't have to believe me, but I saw it with my own eyes. I saw what she did to Usopp-Bro!"

"You're making up crap!" Luffy shook Johnny threateningly. "There's no way Nami would kill Usopp! We're friends!"

"But I..."

"Who's friends, Luffy?" Nami suddenly asks appearing behind our group. I turn to face her.

"Nami." Luffy said surprised dropping Johnny.

"Why did you come here?" she demanded standing with her Bo Staff across one shoulder like a soldier would carry a rifle.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked sounding baffled. "You're my companion. I came to get you."

"How annoying." Nami declared sounding uncaring.

"Nami?"

"Friends? Don't make me laugh." She had a bland 'I-don't-give-a-damn-about-anything' look on her face. "You're more like a pathetic group of cooperators, don't you think?"

"Why you... I saw it with my own eyes. How... how dare you kill Usopp-Bro!" Johnny thrust a pointer finger out at her.

"And your point is?" Nami asked bluntly. "You wanna try killing me to avenge him?" she asked.

"What?"

"I'll tell you one thing. Right now Arlong wants to kill 'Roronoa Zoro and his posse'. All because Zoro went and did something stupid. You guys may have these monster-like powers, but you're no match for real monsters. Hang around this island long enough, and you guys will be killed for sure. Well... It doesn't concern me though." a smirk stole across her face as she shut her eyes to avoid looking us in the eyes. Lie.

"Her cool look is still so charming!" Sanji gained a creeper grin and weird blush. Then his heart-eye replaced his one visible eye and he started to wave his arm around like a possessed man. "Hi Nami-Swan! It's me, it's me, remember me? Let's go on a cruise together!"

"You stay out of this! You'll just complicate things!" Zoro yelled at Sanji who quickly lost his heart eye to stare at Zoro like he was from another planet.

"What did you say?!" The stare quickly turned into a glare.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty. Knock it off." I interrupted grabbing both of them by an ear. Sanji with my left hand and Zoro with my right. Hm. Where did I hear that before?... Oh well. If it was important it'll come back to me.

"Ah Hikari-chwan is so pretty when she's insulting us!" Sanji cooed. I felt like face-palming there so I ignored him.

"Where is Usopp?" Zoro turned to face Nami as best he could with his ear still in my hand.

"At the bottom of the sea." Nami stated.

"Why you...Quit your bullshit!" Zoro yanked himself free from my grip as he put his hand on the pommel of his katana and charged toward Nami.

Sanji pulled free too and kicked at Zoro who dodged but stopped moving forward even as he drew his sword in a defensive motion.

"Do swordsmen attack women too?" Sanji demanded, his eyes shadowed as he took another drag on his cigarette. "Roronoa Zoro?"

"What did you say?!" Zoro demanded angrily. "You don't even know what's going on so don't interfere!"

"After such an emotional loss of course you're irritable."

I wondered vaguely if Sanji realized that could be taken another way... After all, Nami was claiming to have murdered one of our friends. Of course we would be irritable towards the murderer if that was the case. I knew he was referring to the fact Zoro had lost to Mihawk but still...

"Oi! You better watch what you say." Zoro threatened.

"Mind your own business, bastard."

"Brothers! Don't be bickering at an important time like this!" Yosaku waved his hands around wildly trying to draw their attention away from each other.

"That's right." Nami interrupted. "If you're going to fight, do it off the island. You outsiders quit sticking your nose into this island's business. You still don't get it? The only reason I got close to you guys is for the money, nothing else. Now that you guys have nothing, you're no use to me. I'll return the ship. So why don't you go find a navigator and head to the Grand Line. Go find One Piece or whatever... Just get the hell out of here! You're a bother!"

Both Johnny and Yosaku ground their teeth at her dismissal.

"Goodbye." She said bluntly.

"Nami." Luffy muttered.

The trench the boat had dug into the ground served as a barrier between her and us.

Luffy suddenly fell backwards. I nearly jumped forward before I realized that the fall wouldn't have hurt him because he was made of rubber.

"Luffy-Bro!" Johnny shouted.

"I'm going to sleep." he answered, moving his arms so they pillowed his head.

"Right now? In the middle of the road?" Yosaku demanded.

"I don't feel like leaving the island... I don't care what's happening here... I'm a bit sleepy..." a yawn worked its way into his speech. "So I'm sleeping."

Yosaku's jaw dropped at Luffy's casual dismissal of what was going on around him. I swear a sweat-drop formed on the back of my head and I had a hard time not reaching back to check and see.

"Brother." Johnny sounded more shocked then I felt.

Zoro put his head in his hand, looking like he was asking for either patience to deal with our odd captain or a reason why he had chosen to go along with said odd captain.

Luffy started snoring eerily fast. Damn he could sleep anywhere.

"Then, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!" Nami suddenly screeched looking like a banshee. "GO AHEAD AND DIE!" she turned and ran away angrily.

I signed and plopped down so I was laying perpendicular to Luffy. I set my head down on his stomach and shut my eyes ignoring the weird looks I got from the rest of the crew and Johnny and Yosaku. I quickly fell into a doze, easily turning out the noise. For some reason I was still exhausted.

"USOPP! DID NAMI DO THIS TO YOU?!" Luffy shouted and I suddenly found myself with my head on the hard ground instead of the mostly soft rubber of Luffy's chest.

"Ouch." I grunted as I got up, dusting the dirt out of my red hair irritatedly. Apparently I got a temper to go with my hair color. I wonder if anything else came with my new appearance...

"Uh no sorry. That was him and me." Sanji chuckled nervously pointing at Zoro.

"IT WAS YOU." Zoro rebutted.

"Luffy you're here." Usopp said turning to look at Luffy through squinted eyes.

"Yeah, a little while back."

"I'm here too, nice to meet you!" Sanji gave a little awkward wave.

"I'll kill you someday!" Usopp declared angrily as he got to his feet and got in Sanji's face.

"Hey, you're still fine even after that?" Sanji grabbed Usopp's shoulder.

"Shut the hell up!" He yelled at Sanji irritated.

"Oh yeah, you were killed by Nami right?" Zoro asked.

"Damn him. Johnny was lying after all." Luffy suddenly said.

"Actually, there is some truth to it." Usopp started. "It's more the opposite. Nami saved my life."

Usopp told the whole story. "So Nami bluffed the 'killling me off' part so I could escape. I think there's a reason for her being with the mermen pirates." he finished.

"Of course." Sanji said.

"So what do we do now? Rush Arlong Park?" Zoro asked.

"Hold on!" Usopp shouted urgently. "Before that we should ask Nami for a better explanation." to me it sounded like he didn't want to go anywhere near Arlong Park.

"Either way, it's useless." A new voice stated.

We turned to see a blue haired lady with a large went from her one arm all the way across her chest to the top of the other arm. "No matter what you guys do, Arlong's reign won't end."

I always wanted a tattoo. I should get one here. It would be good for the pirate's image at least. Not to mention the cuts on my face hurt much more than a needle in my skin ever could.

"Nojiko!" Usopp said shocked.

"Who's that?" Luffy pointed at her even as he turned to look for Usopp's answer.

"Nami's older sister."

Sanji's heart-eye popped up immediately after Usopp said sister. "Nami-Swan's older sister? She's so pretty!"

"What do you mean, 'It's useless'?" Zoro asked.

"Do us a favor. Don't mettle with this village's business anymore. Leave Nami alone. I'll tell you the reason why."

"The reason?" Sanji echoed.

"You mean why she stays with the mermen?" Usopp asked.

"Yes." Nojiko answered. "Once you hear the reason you must leave this place."

"All right, then tell use the reason or whatever." Usopp answered.

"I'll pass." Luffy stated. "I don't care about her past."

"Where are you going?" Sanji inquired.

"A walk." Luffy answered.

"What do you mean a walk? You aren't going to listen to her story?" Usopp demanded.

"Yeah. I'll pass."

"I'm with him." I stated. "I'm staying around whether Nami wants us around or not. She's stuck with us. Luffy doesn't take no for an answer. She's been stuck with the crew since the moment she agreed to team up with us. Might as well get used to it." I shrugged and followed the same path Luffy had went.

I heard their voices pass into the background as I got farther away. I could see Luffy's hat in the distance.

"Oi! Luffy! Wait for me!" I called out.

The hat stopped bobbing through the trees and I easily caught up and we continued walking. It was easy walking with Luffy. He easily slowed to my pace and I smiled at him gratefully.

We walked at a slow pace. Not really in a hurry to get anywhere. We looked up in time to see a trio of mermen in front of us. There was Hachi the octopus one, and then there was one with weird wing-like arms and a long ponytail and then the last one had a weird looking mouth and a permanent pink spots on his face like he was blushing.

"Hm? So those are mermen?"

"Uh huh." I muttered back under my breath.

I put my arm in the crook of Luffy's arm and followed his lead as he walked right past them. They were enormous up close. Luffy's head went to around the stomach area of each of them.

"Hey wait!" Hachi called. "Y-You!"

"Huh? Were you calling me?" Luffy asked turning.

"Y-You... who are you? What are you doing on this island?" Hachi demanded.

"What does it matter to you?" Luffy asked.

Hachi looked almost baffled at that. "W-well, you've got a point there... Just like you said."

"I'm Luffy. This is Hikari. We're taking a walk."

"Taking a walk?" he repeated sounding dumbfounded.

"Have a pleasant one!" he called after us waving around a bunch of pale yellow handkerchiefs.

"Smartass, where are you headed?" One of the others demanded.

"How should I know?" He asked back.

"Isn't he kind of amusing? The girl he was with was kinda cute for a human too," I barely heard before we were out of hearing range. I felt a blush rise along my cheeks. That was so sweet! It's too bad we were on opposite sides.

I looked over my shoulder nervously as they faded off in the distance.

We soon made it to what I assumed was Cocoyashi.

A man with a pinwheel on his hat was leading a group of marines. Luffy stopped and stared at them.

"What business do the marines have with Nami?" I heard him ask.

The leader of the marines laughed. He looked like a rat. He had ears and whiskers and all. "You should remain quiet and escort us." his laugh sounding like the nickering sound a rat makes.

"Why does he have a pinwheel on his head?" Luffy asked. "That's TOO cool!" he exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't even think about it. It's a bad idea." I told him bluntly.

He gave me an innocent look. "Think of what?" he asked.

We moved over to a palm tree and I sighed as I leaned back against Luffy's side. Luffy moved a bit then pulled me closer so I was settled against him more comfortably.

He stared up at the top of the tree and I yawned again. I wanted to be less exhausted but every time I went to take a nap I was woken up before I could get in the right cycle for actual rest.

"I just thought of a good move."

"Don't you dare." I answered not even opening my eyes.

"Doctor! Doctor!" A different voice shouted. I opened my eyes reluctantly.

"What happened, Gen-san?!" A man demanded. A crowd had formed.

"Nojiko's been shot!"

"By who?"

"The Marines."

"The Marines?"

Luffy sat up with a grin noticing Nami.

"Nojiko."

"I... I'm fine." Nojiko's voice was weak.

"Arlong was collaborating with the Marines." Gen stated, he was the guy with the pinwheel on his head.

"What?!" The doctor exclaimed surprised.

"He turned his back on Nami eight years ago, and never intended to keep his promise."

"What?!"

"What? That means..." A woman in the crowd started.

"That bastard! Our Na-chan...!"

"Na-chan..."

Nami set Nojiko's head down gently then stood up.

"Nami..." The doctor started.

"Yo, Nami!" Luffy said moving to see her. "What's up? Can I help with something?"

Nami turned on him instantly. "You're STILL here?!" she demanded glaring at him. She grabbed him by the front of his vest and hauled him up towards her face. "This is none of your business! Get off of this island!" She threw him to the side before running off.

"What's her problem?" Luffy grump-ed.

"Weren't you listening?" I asked rhetorically. "Arlong lied to Nami. All the money she's been stealing to buy the village was stolen by the Marines by order of Arlong. Plus her sister was shot."

I had the feeling he wasn't even listening to my explanation.

We were there as the villagers came together in a mob. We were there as Nami tried to stop them. And we were there when Nami broke down.

Nami dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face and then she grabbed her tattoo before grabbing her knife and repeatedly stabbing herself with it screaming Arlong's name in agony. I felt bile move up my throat at the sound of flash slicing repeatedly. As Nami drew back for the seventh swing Luffy grabbed her knife arm by the wrist stopping the downward momentum. Blood ran in rivulets down Nami's arm.

She turned to look at Luffy. "Luffy."

Luffy frowned down at her.

She threw the knife down and Luffy released her wrist.

"What do you want?" She asked her posture was slumped. Defeated. "You don't know anything. You don't know what's been happening for the past eight years on this island."

"Yeah. I don't." He agreed easily.

"This is none of your business! I told you to get off this island, didn't I?!"

"Yeah. You told me." Luffy was a master at avoiding the points he didn't like.

"Go away!" Nami demanded flinging a pile of dust at Luffy. I stood off to the side feeling helpless. "You! Go away! Go away!" With each exclamation she threw more dirt at Luffy. "Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away..." her exclamations lost their power as she went. She sobbed almost brokenly and moved her dirt throwing arm to cover her mouth.

Luffy watched her solemnly.

"Luffy... Help me." Tears coursed down her face unchecked and unhindered.

Luffy's eyes were shadowed by his hat but when he took it off and put it on Nami's head his eyes were determined.

Nami looked up in surprise.

Luffy walked a few steps away before he shouted. "DAMN RIGHT!" rang through the air like a battle cry.

"Luffy..."

Luffy turned to me. "Fix her up." he ordered.

I nodded easily.

"We're going." He told the rest of the crew.

"Right!" they agreed.

I watched them march away in awe before quickly shaking myself. I needed to take care of Nami before she bled out or something.

I carefully pulled her to her feet and moved into one of the nearest house ignoring Nami's protest. The villagers loved her. They wouldn't mind if I used their sink and first aid kit to help Nami.

I moved through the house quickly finding the first aid kit, a couple of wash clothes and a towel. I got the wash clothe wet and carefully wiped the blood away from the slices. I winced at the sight. She had certainly done a number on them. I wasn't sure but I thought they were probably going to need stitches. I grimaced at that.

"This is going to need stitches." I told her. She looked at me with watery eyes. "Do you want some alcohol to dull the pain?" I continued.

She shook her head. "Just hurry up." she sniffled.

I shook my head at her. I hurried around the kitchen and found a wooden spoon and wrapped a spare wash clothe around it and held it out in front of her face. She stared at me in confusion. "Bite this. I don't want to have to re-attach part of your tongue." I grimaced at the thought. I really hate blood.

She gave me a stiff smile before fitting the spoon between her teeth in a harsh grip.

I pulled a needle out and threaded it. It was easier than last time.

"I hate blood. I hate blood. I hate blood." I chanted to myself as I carefully wiped the blood away from the cuts again. I picked the biggest cut and carefully pushed the edges together with two fingers on my left hand and then began to stitch as fast as I could while still being accurate.

"I hate blood. I hate blood. I hate blood." The mantra continued as I moved to the second cut, then the third, and all the way to the sixth. The stitches were all over. They looked almost like a star with the way they overlapped. I carefully tied the last of the string and wiped it gently clean again. I pulled out the roll of gauze and carefully wrapped the stitches. Tight enough so it didn't come off, but loose enough that she didn't lose circulation in the arm.

"There you go. Nami-Sis." I teased gently, remembering how she snapped at Johnny and Yosaku not to call her that. I put the dirty clothes in the sink and ran cold water over them until they came away clean. Then I grabbed the soap and washed my hands until the scent of blood went away. I hated the smell of blood almost more than the sight of it.

"Hikari?" Nami asked after she pulled the spoon that had kept her from biting her tongue off out of her mouth.

"Yeah?" I asked turning to look at her.

"Thank you." more tears were flowing down her face.

I signed. I pulled her into a hug. She looked like she really needed it.

Several minutes later I finally pulled away. "Come on. We have to go help the rest of them. Our Nakama." I ordered pulling her to her feet. She nodded and assembled her Bo Staff then led the way to Arlong Park.

I ran beside her, cursing myself for not thinking to grab a knife or something from the kitchen we were just in. I should at least have a small blade. It's better than going bare handed against these mermen. They were obviously bigger and stronger than most humans. Probably because you needed to be stronger to do stuff underwater like you do stuff above water. There's a lot of resistance added by water. That's why it's easier to swim through water than walk through it.

We arrived in time to see Arlong throw a handful of water at Sanji. The doctor turned to look at us.

"You should just give up. Your lives aren't all that important anyway." Arlong stated loud enough for all of Arlong Park to hear him.

"ARLONG!" Nami yelled. The crowd in front of Arlong Park moved so we could enter.

"Nami-sis."

"Nami-san"

"Nami"

"Nami, Nami, Nami. Don't I get a hello?" I asked teasingly as I stepped up beside her.

"Yo Nami. I was just giving some loser pirates a demonstration of our power. What brings you here?" Arlong inquired chuckling.

Apparently not.

"I'm here to kill you." Nami answered bluntly.

"And I'm here to help. Encase you're wondering." I added on as I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I'd rather have it out of my way and show my scars then worry about it causing my death and keeping my scars hidden.

I heard a few muffled gasps as my scars were revealed in full. I had nearly forgotten I had them. They no longer hurt and around the rest of the crew no one looked at them odd or gave me a second glance because of them. Most of them were there when I got the damn things and if they weren't they didn't bring it up.

"Here to...kill me?" Arlong burst out into laughter. "You still haven't given up. How many times have you tried to kill me, these past eight years?" The villagers look astounded at that little piece of info. "Murder, poison, assault. Has it ever worked? You should know better than anyone else, that we can't be killed by you humans so easily. Listen you can never kill me. And you can never run away from me. Nami. You'll remain as my cartographer. Besides, you know I've been good to you. I really hope that you'll continue the map-making, if possible. So how does this sound? Because of what happened, normally I'd kill all of these people, except you. But if you make a decision now to return to the Arlong Pirates, and continue to draw maps for me... I'll spare the people of Cocoyashi." He offered like he was granting Nami a great boon. "But these guys won't be spared. They were too foolish." He kicked Sanji, who had made his way onto hands and knees, over so he was on his side once more.

"So it's your choice. If you choose me, the people of your village will be safe. Or you could choose to fight against me with these fools. But, these guys you hope to count on are in such bad shape right now... I don't think there's any way to avoid this ending in tragedy. Nami. Are you _my _nakama. or... Are you theirs?" Arlong finished his long winded rant.

"You bastard!"

"No matter what you say, you just want to keep her!"

"But...Luffy..." Nami muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for me to hear standing right beside her. "I can't doubt what he said!" She turned to face the villagers. "I'm sorry everyone. Will you die with me?"

"YOSH!" the whole village roared.

"So, you wish to be slaughtered."

A huge plume of water appeared to the side. Luffy.

Zoro rolled to his feet, as well as Sanji.

Zoro grabbed his swords. "Thirty seconds.I can't hold any longer than that." He stated to Sanji.

"That's more than enough!" Sanji said as he dove into the water.

"I don't remember a fountain there. Could it be that rubber bastard?" Zoro took a slice at Arlong and managed to get him under his right eye.

"That's not what you should be worried about right now..." Zoro claimed around the sword in his mouth. "You half-fish bastard."

"Didn't I tell you to never say that word again? Looks like you're about finished, Zoro!" Arlong licked the blood off of his cut. Ew gross.

Does he even realize how unsanitary that is? A dog's mouth has less germs than a human's mouth, or at least less germs that will kill you. It's more dangerous to be bit by a human if the skin is broke than if you're bit by a dog and the skin is broke. Since he's a merman, he's like half-human so the composition of saliva must be similar...

"Those with the power of the Devil's Fruit lose all strength when they're in the sea. He should be dead by now. If he's still alive... Then someone must've been messing around with my little game." Arlong stated.

"Messing up your game?" Zoro asked rhetorically. "I thought it was messed up to begin with, bastard."

"Whatever, I'll find out who's doing it. Move." He ordered. Zoro barely reached Arlong's chest, that's how tall the merman was. Zoro was like 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11. He's not a short man. Which shows just how large the mermen were.

"Egg Star!" Usopp's voice comes from somewhere off and an egg flies towards Arlong but Arlong stops the egg with his hand even though it splatters all over.

Both Arlong and Zoro turn to look for Usopp.

"I've got you covered Zoro!" Usopp called.

"Usopp-Bro! Are you alright?" Johnny and Yosaku ask.

"How brave! He's facing him without fear!"

"Oh yeah! I fight with no fear!" Usopp claimed from a hole in Arlong Park's wall.

"Why are you over THERE?!" Yosaku and Johnny demand.

"Usopp!"

"Hey Nami, check it out!" He calls pointing at himself with a thumb. "One of their guys, one of 'em was finished off by ME! Me, of all people!"

That actually sounded like a truth. He usually brags more if it's a lie.

"A guy with a face like this." He used his hand to pull his mouth out and managed to imitate the blush that seemed to be permanent on that merman's face. "These mermen are NOTHING!" Well that sounded more like a lie.

"Chew! You bastard..." well he got Arlong's attention at least.

"You betcha. My appearance signals the climax of this battle! Get ready fore the big finale!" Usopp was getting to far ahead of himself now.

I noticed Hachi getting up and hurried to stop him from interfering with Zoro and Arlongs' fight.

"Roronoa Zoro! I won't forgive you. Watch me kill your nakama in the water!" He called out.

I quickly moved to stand in front of him. My back was to Arlong and to Zoro but they were obviously busy with each other. I would hear him before he turned to take me out. Hachi launched himself forward aiming a punch at my chest.

He moved a lot faster than I thought he would. I could practically feel my eyes widening as the fist came flying towards my chest. A hit from him would be sure to break a few ribs at least. I moved my arms into a cross guard in front of my chest clenching my eyes closed to wait for the pain. A broken arm or two was better than a few broken ribs. At least the bones in my arms didn't have a chance of puncturing a lung if they broke.

The pain didn't come though. I could feel the pressure of the hit. It shoved me backwards, my heels digging two long trenches as I was pushed back. But my arms held steady as if I hadn't been punched at all. My eyes flew open at the shock of it.

Hachi looked shocked too. Apparently he expected me to be injured just as I much as I had.

I uncrossed my arms and opened and closed my fists a few times to check the feeling in my arms. They opened and closed smoothly. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them. They weren't even numb.

No one was paying attention to Hachi and I though. They were all more interested in Zoro's fight. I filed that particular incident away. Probably my improved Haki powers. It probably made a sheild automatically.

'Thanks Rai.' I thought passingly.

**"No problem. You'd be useless with two broken arms. The Haki will work almost automatically to defend until you learn to use it yourself. There's no point in you being injured to uselessness. Not yet anyway." **Rai stated.

'Gee thanks. I'm not aloud to be injured to uselessness, "yet".' I thought quoting the key word there.

**"That's right."** Rai answered.

'When it comes time to trade in voices, I'm going for a less sarcastic, nicer one. I'm just warning you ahead of time.' I stated before turning my attention back to Hachi.

**"Consider me warned."** He just had to get in the last word. Ass.

"Done already? By the way what's with this huge bandage did you fall somewhere?" I heard Arlong mock Zoro.

"Hey watch it! I just sewed that up!" I threatened angrily.

As I was distracted Hachi slipped by me and dove into the water.

"I'M BACK!" Luffy shouted as he flew through the air.

"That rubber bastard." Arlong started.

Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed Zoro and flung him out of Arlong Park. I quickly got my ass out of the way. Luffy didn't need any help currently and I didn't feel like flying. Plus, Zoro probably needed stitched up..._again_.

Luffy hurried up and kicked Arlong's ass into the building.

And I got my ass out of there and retrieved Zoro.

"Oi Zoro? You alive?" I asked half teasingly, half seriously.

"I'm am currently."

"Good. Stay that way." I ordered as I rolled him onto his back so I could see his chest.

I couldn't see what was going on between Arlong and Luffy but I could hear the mummer of their voices as they bantered with each other.

"Hm. That don't look good." I mused out loud. And it didn't the skin around the stitches had nearly torn away.

"Can you fix it?" Zoro demanded.

"I don't know if I'm really the right person for the job. They do have an actual doctor in town you know." I told him.

"Fix it. The doc will check your work afterwards." Zoro stated.

"But if he's not satisfied with it he'll have to tear all the stitches out!" I objected. I didn't want to even imagine what getting stitched twice in a hour or so period would feel like.

"It'll be fine." Zoro stated stubbornly.

"Idiot." I muttered fondly. I hauled him further away from the water and snuck away to get my kit. "Be right back." I told him quickly.

"Hurry up." He muttered back.

It took me five minutes to get my kit and get back to him. I growled at the sight of his chest. It was a mess. I frowned in thought then sighed. "This is going to hurt." I warned before dumping the whole bottle of peroxide on his chest.

He howled in both shocked pain. He wasn't expecting it to hurt even though I warned him.

I tried to shut out the numerous bangs and crashes as Luffy and Arlong's fight continued. I knew Luffy won. I didn't need to know anymore.

"I'm the man who'll be the Pirate King!" I could hear Luffy's catchphrase over everything else.

I heard Arlong's return answer of "you can't even save yourself in the water, you can't do anything."

I paused to listen.

"And when I can't do anything, I have others to help me!"

There was the sounds of blades swinging through the air for a few seconds before the sounds of swords breaking then Luffy's voice loud again.

"Of course I don't know a damn thing about swords, you dumbass! I don't know how to navigate, either. I can't cook. I can't see something happen before it happens. I can't even lie. I know I need others to HELP me if I want to keep on living!"

How did he know I could see things before they happened? Was he paying attention during those fights? More than the rest of the crew? More than me?

I heard a loud cheer raise up for Luffy.

"If you get yourself killed I'll kill you." I heard Zoro mutter and I privately agreed.

I quickly got back to sewing Zoro's wounds back up.

I could barely concentrate over the sound of castanets. Who was playing castanets at a time like this? I mean there was a huge fight going on. Who was cheerful enough to play castanets?

I could hear Luffy yelling in both pain and anger repeatedly.

What the hell was going on over there?

I concentrated on doing Zoro's stitches the best I could. I didn't want him to have to have them done again after the battle. I mentally counted as I worked. 41...42...43... How many did it take last time? It was over a hundred right? 44...45...46...47...

Loud crashes and booms continued to echo from Arlong Park distracting me slightly. The booms and crashes were followed by shouts, then more crashes and booms then even more shouts. It seemed to be a circle effect.

68...69...70...71...

I could barely concentrate on my stitches with all the noise.

82...83...84...85...

Breaking wood. Crushed tiles. Shattering glass.

91...92...93...94...95...

Eerie silence. The calm before the storm.

120...121...122...123...

How many stitches was it last time anyway? Couldn't be too many more could it?

135...136...137...138...139...

"You ever get another wound like this I'm going to kick your ass." I warned Zoro sounding more irritated than anything else.

He blinked at me. "If I get another one like this, I'll let you." He answered easily, obviously understanding the irritation was from worry.

150...151...152...153...154...

175...176...177...178...179...

190...191...192...193...194...195...and 196. I quickly tied off the last stitch. I looked down at my work. It looked good to me. Even around all the gore. I winced at that.

I tried to shake that thought away. I quickly wrapped the wounds as best I could with the small amount of gauze I had left. It was left smudged with blood and I winced again.

I looked down at my hands and winced a third time at the sight of all the blood that covered my hands. In fact, it was all down my front. I looked like I had just performed surgery or committed a murder.

I felt myself begin to tremble. The smell was getting to me. It was nasty. I could practically taste it. It was horrid. My hands trembled.

Arlong Park collapsed.

But I was still staring at the blood on my hands and on my shirt and I was still smelling it all around me and I could taste it on the back of my tongue and it tasted like copper and salt and everything felt wrong.

"Hikari?" Zoro's voice sounded faint and far away to my ears.

"Hikari?!" His voice was louder but not by much. I felt his arms pull me to his chest. Then I was out. The world went black and I didn't see anything else.

I woke up to the gentle, cool pressure of a wet cloth on my face.

"Hikari? Are you awake?" A soft, familiar sounding voice demanded. I groaned softly and pried my eyes open to look at Zoro's face looking down at my face from off to the side of me.

"She's awake!" he turned to yell to everyone else.

"Hikari!" Multiple voices shouted out loud as they hurried to where I was laying.

"I faint too much don't I?" I asked rhetorically.

"No." Usopp stated firmly.

"Why'd you faint this time?" Zoro asked.

"Hemophobia. It felt like the blood was everywhere." I said looking down.

"You're afraid of blood? But you managed to stitch me up twice and Nami up too." Zoro stated.

"You're my nakama. You guys' health matters more than my stupid fears." I said looking away embarassed by said stupid fear.

But it was impossible to face away from all of them at the same time. I turned away from Zoro and Nami but managed to turn towards Usopp, Sanji and Luffy. I could see a huge grin cover Luffy's face. Sanji got his usual stupid heart-eye. And even Usopp was grinning widely.

"And that's why we don't care if you faint every once and a while." Zoro stated grabbing my chin gently and turning me to face him. "You put our needs in front of yours when we need it. So we'll put yours in front of ours when you need it." he stated like it was as easy as 1+1=2.

And I suppose for them, it was.

**I feel this is an okay place to stop. I guess the bounty isn't going to be put in until next chapter. So everyone review and tell me what you think please. I just got on a sort of roll with the last page or so, so I'm probably going to keep writing after I post this. **

**Review please!**


	11. The Party and the Bounties

The rest of the crew hung around for about an hour to make sure I was really okay before they left to rejoin the party which had been going on for the last nine hours according to them. It had apparently been started an hour after the fall of Arlong Park and hadn't stopped for anything, not even sleep.

I was both grateful and embarrassed to realize that I had been changed as I slept. I seriously hoped that it had been a female that had changed me. Mostly because I wasn't happy with the thought of a male I didn't know looking at my body. Of course, I wasn't particularly happy with the thought of a male I did know looking at my naked body either.

I was very grateful, on the other hand, that someone had thought to wash the blood off my hands. I had the vague thought that I probably would've passed out again if I had woken to the feel and smell of blood all over me. I said passed out because fainting sounded too wimpy for my tastes. So I passed out. Anyone who said differently was lying through their teeth.

I talked with the doctor shortly. He was an older gentleman by the name of Nako, and was rather kind if strict. He had a grey hair and goatee and had a bandana with a red cross on it. He also wore a pair of sunglasses, everywhere.

He had invited me to use his bathroom and I had accepted gleefully. I had taken as much time as I dared in the shower. I repeatedly washed my hair and body and just stood under the hot water until my fingers and toes turned prune-y. When I reluctantly left the shower an hour had passed and I dried off hurriedly so I didn't have to deal with the chilly air.

Nako had been kind enough to leave a pair of black shorts and a green tee-shirt for me to change into. Both were large on my now petite frame and hung strangely. The shorts were luckily draw stringed, and I pulled it as tight as I dared to insure I wasn't caught with my pants down, literally.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror for once and didn't wince at the scars. They really weren't that bad. Sure they were large and covered my face from my right temple to just before my nose and over my cheek, but they were healed well and they were rather thin not large gashes as I had first feared when I felt my face being slashed by Kuro's Cat Claws.

Of course, when I first got the gashes I was more worried about bleeding out than anything else. Which would explain why my feeling of being slightly "uncomfortable with someone's life force pouring out of them" changed to mild hemophobia.

I sighed brushing through my hair quickly. I tilted my head at my reflection trying to decide whether it was worth the trouble of putting my hair up or not. I finally decided to just leave it down but pull it behind my ears so it was out of my face.

"You done in there yet?" Nako's voice asked through the wooden door of the bathroom.

"Yeah. Give me a minute." I answered distractedly as I quickly checked my appearance once more, it was okay.

I opened the door and Nako was standing there waiting.

He looked me up and down real quick. "You look better." he stated.

It was true. The warmth of the shower had given me a healthy flush, where my "passing out" had given me a sheen of sweat and an odd pallor. Plus anyone would look better if they went from bed head to pin straight hair.

"Hey Doc, do you know where I can get a tattoo?" I asked passingly as I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet.

"Sure. I double as a tattoo artist." Nako admitted. "What do you want done?"

"Our Jolly Roger." I stated easily.

"Where?"

"Right shoulder."

"Hm... I'm going to have to get a closer picture of the flag before I can do that." he warned.

"I'll go get Usopp to make me a mini picture." I stated cheerfully. I was almost positive he wasn't drunk yet.

"Okay. Hurry up. I'll wait here." Nako stated needlessly, as he plopped down onto one of the beds and picked up the food he had been carrying.

"Be right back." I chirped cheerfully as I hurried to find Usopp. Half an hour, three pieces of meat, and a tankard of some unspeakably nasty drink later I was back in Nako's house laying down on one of the beds as the good doctor prepared to create my tattoo.

I had chosen our Jolly Roger for two reasons. 1. It was a symbol that I wouldn't mind having engraved on my skin permanently. 2. It helped me feel like I really belonged in the crew, even if I wasn't a very good fighter.

I dozed lightly as I felt the gently prickling sensation of the tattoo being created. My friend had once told me she usually fell asleep during tattooing and I couldn't believe it. Now that I was feeling it for myself, I could admit it was oddly relaxing. Not to mention, what would have usually been extremely painful for me was made less painful by the fact I had suffered worse.

"There. All done." Nako declared an hour and a half later. He dabbed on a clear-ish looking paste and wrapped it firmly. "You'll need to avoid swimming or soaking the tattoo for at least a week. You can take the bandage off after two hours, but you should wash it after you remove the bandage." he instructed.

"Thanks." I grinned at him gratefully. I wonder how the rest of the crew is going to react to my new tattoo. I grinned at the thought.

I strolled out of the doc's house and went right into partying. My new tattoo hidden under a clean white bandage and said bandage hidden beneath the crisp new shirt Nako had supplied for me.

"Oi! Hikari! Sing!" Luffy's boisterous voice called from where he was seated stuffing his face with meat, observed by a crowd of both awed and horrified islanders.

"What shall I do today? What shall I do today? What shall I do? I could start a new adventure by jumping on my bed." I leapt onto a table as I said 'jumping'. "I could wake up Mr. Neelson, carry horse above my head! I can dance the shoddish!" I did a quick little skipping step as if to prove myself, "Spread magic everywhere! I could skate around the kitchen. Flip pancakes in the air, With handsprings in the classroom." I did a back handspring right off the table landing unsteadily on my feet before quickly regaining my balance. "Do anything I want. Villa Villacula is waiting for us. What shall I do today? What shall I do today? What shall I do? What shall I do today? What shall I do today? What shall I do?"

The villagers who had had been watching Luffy had turned to watch me as soon as he told me to sing and they all applauded wildly.

"Encore! Encore!" The villagers quickly picked up a chant, everyone watching me eagerly.

"Standing on top of Mount Kilimanjaro, watching the sunrise, the wind in my hair... I'm gonna go wherever I wanna go There's magic everywhere! I dance with the lions who roam Serengeti, I met a tiger and played in his lair. When I get home, I'm right where I wanna be There's magic everywhere! Watching the clouds roll by, Sailing the ocean, learning to fly In the moonlight sky. What shall I do today? What shall I do today? I made friends with the cobra in the burning Sahara, Danced with a Swami while everyone stared." I danced the same way I had with the Shoddish line in my last song. "I live where I live and I do what I wanna do There's magic everywhere! Dive with the dolphins And soar with the albatross, A world full of treasures to know if we dare. I am the sea, and nobody owns me!" I threw my arms out wide at the last line. "There's magic everywhere! Watching the clouds roll by, Sailing the ocean, learning to fly In the moonlight sky What shall I do today? What shall I do today? What shall I do today? What shall I do?"

The crowd broke into applause once more and I gave a short bow even as there was a cry for more music.

I went through Cuban Pete, Jump in the Line by Harry Befonte, Cross the Line by Superchick, Sweet Dream by Beyonce, You're Gonna Go Far Kid by The Offspring, One Last Hope from Disney's Hercules, and It's Raining Men by the Weather Girls before I finally begged off and slipped away. I grabbed a bottle of soda and snuck off into the shadows of the outskirts of the village. The party was mainly held in the middle so I was mostly successful.

I lost track of time as I laid back on a soft layer of grass. I watched the stars, trying vaguely to pick out the few constellations I knew. I couldn't pick out any of them. The Big Dipper, the Small Dipper, and Andromeda's throne were missing. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spot. I was from the United States, thus used to the Western Hemisphere, maybe since we were in the East Blue...

I was dragged out of my thought when I heard the soft sound of the grass being crushed underneath someone's feet. I normally wouldn't have heard it, but it was so quiet out here it was easy to pick out.

"So this is where you've been for the past four hours?" his voice startled me.

I tilted my head back farther so I was looking 'above' me. I still hadn't gotten up. "Aa." I grunted in agreement.

"What're you doing out here?" he demanded.

"Looking at the stars. Thinking. Relaxing. Take your pick." I answered before turning my attention back to the sky.

"Hmph." he grunted back before dropping down beside me, copying my position.

We were silent for a while before he spoke again. "What's so interesting about the stars?"

"I was trying to find the Constellations. But I'm so far from home I don't know where to look for them." I admitted softly.

"Hm." he muttered softly before reaching over and grabbing my wrist gently guiding my hand in a soft motion. I followed the motion and picked out what he was showing me. It was a long string of stars that practically went all the way across the sky. "That's UmiOuja, the Sea King." he explained. Then pushed my hand lower and traced another shape below UmiOuja's head. "That's Fuki, the fish. He's always trying to win his freedom and escape UmiOuja's jaws." he continued.

I smiled. We spent another hour with Zoro showing me the constellations and telling me the stories behind them. I wondered briefly why he could locate all of these constellations but couldn't find his way out of a one-way street with numerous signs pointing the right direction, but pushed the thought away in order to enjoy the stars and stories.

I tried to cover a yawn nearly two hours later but it escaped before I could muffle it.

"You're tired. You should sleep." Zoro stated.

"How are your stitches?" I asked, both curious and trying to redirect his attention.

"They're fine. Doc checked 'em out and said it would do more damage to remove them and do them again than to let them heal as is. But that doesn't change the fact you're tired."

I finally gave in and rolled onto my side, facing Zoro to sleep. "Fine, night." I muttered softly, feeling my eyelids drooping.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx X (Try to disappear on me now, damn line.)**

I woke up, nestled to something warm. "Mmhm." I mumbled softly as I tried to lift my head. It felt heavy and sort of useless. I tried to roll over to get up only to be pinned to the warm object I had slept next to by a similarly warm object. I forced my eyes opened and had to blink several times until the blurriness of sleep disappeared.

Zoro had pulled me close to him, either before he fell asleep or shortly after. He was peacefully snoring away now, it was sort of loud and I couldn't believe I managed to sleep through it now that I was awake. I know I was a sort of deep sleeper but this was a bit much.

"Zoro. Zoro. Zoro. Zoro. Zorooo." I said sing-songingly softly trying to wake him up without getting him to cut me to pieces for invading his space.

"Wha?" he asked gruffly not even opening his eyes.

"I'd like to get up." I stated firmly.

"Wha?" he repeated opening his eyes. He stared at me for a second before pulling his arm away.

"Thanks." I muttered getting up and stretching.

"Think the party's still going on?" I asked after I finished stretching out.

"Course. I think it's supposed to go on for three days. Least that's what I heard." Zoro answered sitting up.

"Let's go, then." I stated rushing towards the village.

When I got to the village I got myself some of the more breakfast-like food and ate until I was stuffed.

I found a place to shower and quickly took care of myself and then tended to my tattoo quickly before wrapping it up again. I didn't want it to be seen yet. I wanted it to be a surprise. After the week was over I would leave it unwrapped. We should be past Logue Town by then.

"Oi! Hikari! Where are you?!" Luffy's yell echoed through the village. He probably wanted me to sing more. I shrugged at the thought. Why not?

**"Why?"** Rai returned.

'I see you're back.' I thought blandly.

**"Is that anyway to greet a friend?"** Rai asked rhetorically.

'You're a friend?!' I replied.

**"That hurts right here."** I had a flash of an image a male hand clenched against a likewise male chest. Said male chest was rather buff and uncovered.

'Wow. Where do you work out?' I redirected.

**"You think I look good then?"** Rai sounded 'pleased as punch' to use a cliche.

'Not as good as Zoro, but still...' I thought back teasingly.

**"What does he have that I haven't got?"**

'A body?'

**"That was a rhetorical question! And of course I have a body! You just saw it!"** Rai sounded extremely put out.

'No I saw a male chest and hand. How do I know they belong to you? Plus a chest and a hand does not constitute a body.'

**"I am so **_**proud**_** of the confidence you have in me."** Rai scoffed sarcastically.

'Are you saying you won't lie to me?' I asked innocently.

**"Of course I won't."**

Hook, Line, and Sinker. "Tell me the terms of the contract you have me under." I demanded.

**"Damn it."** Rai's voice was extremely soft, I almost missed it. He must've been cursing under his breath.

'Tell me.' I repeated, as I made my way to the edge of the village. This sort of situation called for some privacy.

**"Fine."** Rai finally relented. **"So far you have four obligations. First you need to join and stay with the 'Strawhat' Pirates. Second you need to specialize in a weapon and/or ability native to this world. Third you need to keep the story from getting so far out of control that the main/required events take place, the only exception is that you need to save Portgas D. Ace, also known as Gol D. Ace. Fourth you need to prevent the death of any of the strawhats, which is really just an added clause to the first obligation."** Rai explained.

I was silent for a few minutes letting the conditions settle into my mind. I had already joined the strawhats, and I wouldn't let them get hurt if I could help it anyway...

I was working on Haki and was planning on getting a weapon in Logue Town. Of course I still had the dagger I had bought in Shells Town, which was stupidly in the girl's cabin on the Going Merry, I could've used that in the fight against the Mermen. But I couldn't use it that well anyway and it wasn't really the type of weapon I wanted. I needed a weapon that would allow me to be mid to close range. Something that I could use to keep people at a distance, but something that wouldn't become useless close range...

I had already promised to save Ace...

But...

'I don't know the story line well enough to stop myself from changing extremely important events.' I told Rai bluntly.

**"Hm..."** Rai made a thoughtful noise. **"Tell you what. I'll tell you if you're doing something wrong as long as you run the thought by me first. Okay? That'll keep you from breaching contract, and me from loosing my job due to messing up the time stream."**

'Okay.' I agreed softly. That was the nicest Rai had been since I had entered the One Piece World.

"So this is where you've been." Sanji's voice startled me.

"Huh?" I asked jumping in shock.

"Luffy's been looking for you."

"I better go find him then." I said.

Sanji nodded and lead the way back to the village.

"Hikari! Where were you?" Luffy whined.

"Sorry, Captain. I was out in the forest." I apologized.

Luffy smiled as soon as the apology was out. "Can you sing for us please?" He pouted.

I smiled at him and sang for the next two hours before I slipped away for a bathroom break and a spot of lunch from some of the scattered stands that had been erected haphazardly in the excitement of the news of Arlong Park's destruction.

The third day came and went in the same mess that the second day had. I had ended up singing for several hours once more and the food was still as plentiful as it had been on the first and second day. Apparently the village felt that using all the food to celebrate their new found freedom from ten years of tyranny was as good of use as any other.

On the fourth day after the fall of Arlong Park the villagers got together and helped our crew load a huge amount of supplies onto the Going Merry.

I scurried up the gangplank just as Zoro was handed the last crate. Hurriedly I perched myself on the edge of the ship, one of the posts for the rail in between my legs, which dangled over the side, so I wouldn't be thrown overboard. I could swim, but it didn't mean I wanted to. Especially not with my tattoo and the water being so chilly.

I ignored the yelling Sanji was doing. Something about fifty-some point something percent less reason to stay on the crew.

My thoughts were on the kind of weapon I was going to get. I didn't want a bo staff, Nami had one. I didn't want a slingshot or a pistol, Usopp had the slingshot and I hated the recoil guns had. I didn't really want a sword, though Zoro could probably teach me to use it better than most sword users out there. I didn't care for knives, daggers, or blades either. Maybe something blunt would be best... Nah. I needed something that will do some damage if need be, and something that can hold back if need be.

I still had money from my waitress job back in Shells Town. Plus I had gotten a lot of tips from the more drunken villagers who threw money at my feet when I sang. I didn't bother trying to give it back. They weren't going to take it. We were their saviors...bluck. I hated hero worship.

"Set sail!" Nami's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"You heard her." Luffy stated.

I watched as Zoro easily pulled the anchor up onto the deck, and the sails were quickly unfurled. The filled nearly instantly with air.

The crowd started to murmur in shocked disbelief. "She can't leave without saying goodbye." I heard one man say above the murmur.

"You going to let her leave this way?" Sanji asked.

"It's her choice." Luffy stated.

Nami wove her way in between the crowd dodging all of their attempts to slow her down. She reached the dock and leapt, landing nimbly on her feet on the ship. She then lifted her shirt letting a small pile of wallets and purses fall to the ground around her feet.

I shook my head.

"She hasn't changed at all."

"Wonder how long it'll take before she turns on us again."

I shook my head at Usopp and Zoro's remarks and waved cheerfully back at the small island.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx XxXxX**

It had been a few days since we had left the island and I was currently sunbathing. I was wearing a sports bra and a pair of shorts, my tattoo was still covered by a bandage and so far no one had asked about it yet. I was wondering when they were going to. It had been about a week since I got it so I could get it wet without worrying about it at least. So if I needed to swim I could.

Usopp was working on one of his bullet things. I think it was a chili one?

Zoro was working out with his ridiculously heavy weights. His smallest weight was about twice as heavy as me. And he was using one of the bigger ones.

Luffy was sitting on the ram figurehead, or as he called it his special seat.

Nami was arguing with the mail-gall. Apparently they had raised the price once more.

Nami finally paid the price and the mail-gall flew off. She was half way through before she shouted in surprise. She dropped the newspaper and had a flier crumpled in each hand.

"Look at this!" Nami shouted in shock.

I sat up and saw Luffy hurried to grab the fliers. He looked at them and grinned his wide "D" grin.

"You have a bounty!" Nami practically screeched at Luffy.

I looked up at that. So we were close to Logue Town then. I had almost went back to my sunbathing when Luffy suddenly spoke up.

"Look! Hikari you have a bounty poster too!" He stated thrusting the flier into my hands.

"Hikari the look-a-like?" I asked having a bad feeling about this.

"Oh wow! 20 million beli! That's just under mine!" Luffy said excited.

"But I didn't do anything to get a bounty like that!"

It wasn't a bad picture considering it was on a bounty poster. My head was thrown back and I was grinning widely as I laughed at something someone had said. The lighting showcased my scars especially making them stand out a lot. My hair was cascading over my shoulders in little ringlets and my eyes were closed.

**WANTED**

**DEAD OR ALIVE**

**HIKARI THE LOOK-A-LIKE**

**B 20,000,000**

Twenty million. No matter how many times I though it, it didn't make sense.

"It's awesome!" Luffy declared.

"No it's not!" Nami protested.

It was one of the few times I agreed with Nami.

"I don't have any super power or skill! I'll be killed if someone comes after my bounty!" I protested.

"What about that magical see the future thing?" Luffy asked

I barely restrained from face-palming.

"It's called Haki, and I'm an amateur with it."

Luffy ignored me. He seemed to do that with anything that he didn't agreed with.

"Hikari-chan! You're so cute when you're worried!" Sanji called out doing his noodle-heart dance thing.

I repressed a flinch when he called me cute. I had never been a vain person but the scars on my face made me feel ugly and it felt like people were lying when they said otherwise. If he noticed my reaction he didn't show it.

Zoro finally spoke up. "Hikari, why is your arm still bandaged?" it figured he was the first to notice.

I smiled sheepishly and reached up and tugged the bandage loose, it unraveled itself and pulled around my elbow.

"You got a tattoo!" Luffy's voice was excited, Usopp's was incredulous, and Zoro's was surprised.

Nami said something else. "You got our Jolly Roger?" her's was also incredulous. She had bad experience with having a Jolly Roger tattooed on her arm.

I shrugged. "I feel like I belong in this crew and this is just a physical representation of that."

"It's awesome!" Luffy stated. "I should get one too!"

"You'll have to find someone you trust to do it. And I wouldn't suggest getting it done in the next town. There's a marine base there and the whole town is more likely to turn you in than help you." I stated seriously.

"The next town?" Luffy asked confuse.

"Logue Town. The town of beginning and end." Nami stated.

"The Pirate King Gol D. Roger was born and executed there." I finished.

"Awesome!"

Sometimes there was just no getting to Luffy.

**A/N: Sorry about the wait. I was just being lazy and not finishing. But I finished finally. I have no clue how long it is but I hope it's enough for an apology. **

**Guess what! I dyed my hair. My hair is now the same color as Sharon Osbourne. I'm hoping it'll get lighter, though. Which wasn't on purpose on my part. I wasn't home when my aunt called to ask about the color so she picked one. I wanted fire engine red... Maybe next time.**

**Btw the songs are from the movie and television show Pippi Longstocking. The first one is the theme song of the television show and the second one is called "What Shall I do Today" and is from the movie.  
**

**I made the constellations up too. So no one try to find UmiOuja or Fuki. They aren't there.  
**

**Review and tell me what you think about this chapter, please!**


	12. Loguetown part 1: Hikari's new weapon

I was dozing in the sun light when loud mouth Iron Fist Fullbody pulled along side of our ship. He was on a marine ship that looked like it had been put together by scrap of other ships. I peeled one eye open, yawning lazily as I watched the show. All eight of the marines, plus Fullbody were quickly taken care of. Fullbody fleeing from the wrath of Sanji.

"Hikari-chan! Lunch is ready!" Sanji called eagerly.

"Stop calling me chan." I complained getting up.

"Okay, Hikari-hime!" Sanji agreed quickly. I barely stopped myself from face palming.

"Stop calling me hime!" I called after him as he left to safe lunch from being completely devoured by Luffy. He ignored me. I pouted at that but quickly followed him. I needed to get lunch while it was still around.

We ate lunch fit for kings; a steak the size of half of the plate it was served on, a medium sized bowl of rich french onion soup with a half loaf of baguette, and several different drinks (For each of us). Zoro had plain sake. Both Luffy and Usopp had milk. I had half a flute of sangria, I would've preferred to have something non-alcoholic but both Sanji and Nami needled me into having at least a bit of wine. "You can't be a pirate if you've never had alcohol!", ignoring the fact that nether Luffy or Usopp had anything alcoholic. Both Sanji and Nami had settled for Liebfraumilch, which according to Nami, was much better than something as childish and sweet as sangria. Apparently Sanji agreed because he didn't speak up to defend me, that or he didn't want to disagree with Nami. Desert was red velvet cake with a delicious vanilla icing, that had obviously been made from scratch.

It was several hours later that Loguetown came into sight.

"Land Ho!" Luffy called excitedly from the crows nest, before vaulting over the side and landing easily on deck. I stared in shock at the ease that he jumped from it as if he didn't care if it was so high up. I winced slightly of the thought of doing something similar. No way in hell.

...Well maybe if it was between life and death and after I learned to focus my Haki to cushion my fall.

I made a mental note to avoid doing anything like that until I could at least land on my feet if nothing else.

I watched everyone bustle around and retreated to the girl's bunk to change. I changed into a pair of black pants, a green three-quarter sleeved shirt, and slipped a cloak over myself hiding the clothes. I carefully put my hair up in a low ponytail, and pulled the hood of the cloak up and made sure it shadowed my face.

I nodded at my reflection in approval. There. No scars for people to notice, my hair was hidden, and I had no distinctive weapon at the moment to draw attention to myself. My dagger was rather plain but was now in obvious view if someone cared to notice.

"Come on, Hikari!" Nami called impatiently.

"I'm coming!" I called back, annoyed with her impatience.

"Hurry up!" She called back sounding twice as irritated as I felt.

I moved up to the deck. "Don't get yer knickers in a twist." I muttered waving off her irritation.

"We'll meet back here in three hours, 'kay?" She ordered.

"Who died and made you Captain?" I muttered once more under my breath.

I saw a vein on her temple tic, but she didn't say anything.

I ran down the gangplank with little bouncing strides. Landing lightly on the stones of the dock.

"Bye Sanji-kun, Usopp-kun, Zoro-kun." I called cheerfully as I left the ship. Luffy had already left and Nami had managed to piss me off so I didn't bother saying by to her.

"Bye Hikari/-chan/hime!" The three guys chorused easily as if they had done it hundreds of times before. Ignoring the fact that Nami was pissed at me.

First things first. I needed a more long range weapon. Something that would keep enemies far enough away that I wouldn't have to use my dagger. I'd like to keep them farther away from me than that. Maybe something with seastone, or something to deter unfriendly Devil Fruit users.

Second I needed a few different outfits for the different weather systems in the Grand Line. Three sets of one outfit, fall weather wear at that, wouldn't do for the the rather chaotic weather systems.

Third a log pose, if they had them here. They should, this was like the last town before the Grand Line after all.

Fourth, I needed to get myself some women supplies, supplies to help with my hobbies- paper, charcoals, and such-, and other small things that would help in the long run, including a new first aid kit, the first one was basically out of bandages from helping Zoro get wrapped up. We hadn't thought to ask Cocoyoshi village to replace the used supplies.

And fifth, maybe even glasses. Or maybe goggles with the same properties as glasses without the risk of shattering so easily.

'Oh well. Better get on with it.' I mused to myself, pausing outside of a bar for a second.

"Oi! Can one of you guys point me in the direction of a weapons shop?" I asked one of the less drunk drunks.

"Ah lass, whatja wanna go to weapons shop for?" he asked boisterously. Apparently my voice gave me away, even as my cloak hid my features and stature.

"So I can protect myself." I deadpanned.

"Awe come on lass. Get a drink with me." he reached out to pull me to him.

I used the back of my wrist to knock his hand away from me. "The directions, please." My voice was firm.

"Come on now lass." he wheedled trying to reach for me again.

"No. Now which way is it to the weapons shop?" I demanded.

He got to his feet and staggered towards me. He was apparently more drunk than his speech revealed. "Come on lass. Lose the cloak and spend a few hours with me." he called, moving towards me.

"Back off. Don't make me kick your ass." I warned.

He laughed drunkenly. "You're just a woman. What can you do?" he reached for me once more.

I grabbed his hand this time. Pushing my fingers hard against the nerve in the wrist and yanking his arm out away from both of our chests. The pain seemed to shock him out of his drunkenness for a second before it made his temper flair horrible and he lost any common sense he had left.

He reached out with his other hand meaning to grab me. I kicked him this time. A front snap kick right to the family jewels. I was doing the world a favor. Someone as stupid as him didn't deserve to reproduce.

He opened his mouth in a wordless howl of pain dropping to his knees with both hands, one having been released as soon as he hit the ground.

"Any of you other jokers wanna piece of me?" I asked turning to the rest of the drunks who had been watching the short confrontation. Several people muttered under their breaths and even more shook their heads negatively.

"Can anyone point me to a weapons shop?"

"If you want normal stuff like swords you wanna head to Ichibo's shop. It's two streets down and one to the left. If you want more original stuff you wanna head four streets to the right and go up a street and find the place labeled 'Iyou's'." A man finally spoke up.

"Much obliged." I nodded towards him.

Four streets right, and one up.

Iyou's was a medium sized store squished between a boutique and a cafe. The door jangled almost cheerfully as the door was opened.

It was a weapon master's paradise. There was almost everything you could ever imagine being a weapon. Swords on racks specially made for them; boxes of shuriken, senbon, kunai, and even caltrops; pegs holding different weapons by any available gaps- coiled whips, kusarigama with blade and weight hanging down while the chain was coiled; pikes, spears, battle axes, nun-chucks... Hell there was even a couple scythes.

Crossbows, regular bows, even a few senbon launchers...

There were barrels with dagger-like blades with gaps like a comb, Sword Breakers. Double sided pick axes- picks. A weird looking weapon that looked half like an axe and half like a machet- Khopeshs. Weird looking weapons that looked like police clubs- tonfas. There were even battle fans of multiple sizes- some that would would be large enough to hide behind as a shield and some small enough to pass as decorations.

There were pegs that held multiple knuckle dusters, the ones on the right holding right handed ones and the ones on the left holding left handed ones. Below them, in the same order were similar looking weapons with the additions of blades that went the length of the duster then extended out a good four inches after it ended.

There were pairs of cat's claws in the same style as the bladed knuckles, except there were four blades and they went perpendicular instead of horizontal along the knuckles.

Treasure chests thrown wide open to reveal piles of smoke bombs that were about the size of large marbles, coils of ninja wire bound tightly, small kits about the size of a deck of cards that when opened reveled a lock picker's kit- a small file and multiple lock picks, empty pouches used to hold multiple smaller weapons such as senbon or smoke bombs.

It was a weapon filled paradise. They had practically everything. I had to remind myself I couldn't spend all of the money I had here. Even if I did earn quite a bit from the drunks on Cocoyashi.

"Youkoso!" the man behind the counter looked to be in his late thirties, early forties. His hair was brown with flecks of gray, and his eyes were a welcoming blue the same shade as forget-me-nots.

"Hello." I returned as I went around the store examining the weapons interestedly.

"It's not often we have females stop in." it wasn't quite a statement. It sounded like he was trying to ask a question.

"I need something to defend myself. Preferably something mid to close range, but something long range wouldn't go amiss either." I told him amicably.

"Mid to close range, hm?" He pondered out loud.

"You might want to try a whip or a kusarigama. They're rather flexible compared to other weapons and will help with your slight build." he stated.

"How can you tell I'm slight?" I asked almost incredulously.

"Not even that cloak will hide the fact you are a woman, a small one at that. You walk too lightly to be a man, men always make their footsteps more firm, even when they try not to." the man explained moving over to pull a whip from its place on the wall. He handed it to me and then led me over to a corner of the shop that had been cut off from the rest by a large mostly see-through wall.

"Here, give 'er a go." he said moving so he was behind the clear wall and I was in the small room.

I uncoiled the whip nervously. It pulled on the ground at my feet, no bigger than three centimeters at the tip and no smaller than an inch at the pommel. I flexed my fingers over the handle trying to get a feel for the weapon. It was leather on the handle, that's the only thing I managed to feel out about it.

I swung the whip slightly and the tip cracked, slapping against the ground, too close to my ankles for my comfort. I drew it back, my hand at waist level on my right hand side, and swung it forward like I was casting the line while fishing. It whistled through the air making a humungous cracking noise as it slapped against the wall- leaving no mark.

"Not bad." the man stated. "With a bit of practice you could use it to great effect. It's a mostly long range weapon, it's mostly for keeping opponents at a good distance away. Of course if you get really good at it you could use it to wrap around opponent's limbs and either trip them or drag them closer to you." he explained cheerfully.

He looked at me for a second. "Never mind, never mind. I can see you aren't comfortable with it. That's okay, that's okay. We'll find something for you. I've never not found a suitable weapon for those who are really looking." he stated cheerfully. He was reminding me of a less creepy sounding Olivander from Harry Potter. He seemed to like a challenge too.

He accepted the whip back easily coiling it, like he could do it in his sleep. "Maybe..." he muttered out loud putting the whip back. He stopped to look at the Kusarigama for a second before shaking his head.

I looked at him in askance.

"We'll come back to that one later if none of the others work out. It's one of the most difficult weapons here." He explained as he moved down the wall away from the Kusarigama.

"Hm. Unusual. How about this." he held out a crossbow, unloaded for me to take. I grabbed it and was almost immediately knocked off my feet with the weight. I shook my head. I never liked the look of crossbows anyway. One shot and then you had to put down your weapon to reload it. It seemed like a pain in the ass to me.

"Hm. No you're right. That won't suit you at all." he agreed as he took the crossbow back and set it back where he had taken it from.

"Maybe this?" He asked pulling off a weird looking wrist contraption. "See this." He took my arm and attached it with a few straps, all with velcro. "Now you load them here." he pointed to a small opening on top of the thing with five slots. "Then you take this." he grabbed a string almost like on a bow and pulled it back and released it. Several projectiles, no bigger than toothpicks flew out of the machine thunking into a target that had been on a hook across the way, obviously made for practicing long range shots.

"It's called a senbon launcher." he explained. "You buy senbon separately of course and fill it whenever it goes empty. It can hold fifty senbon at a time, that's ten shots then it needs refilled. The senbon can be dipped in poison or paralyzing or sleeping agents and can even be thrown by hand if you ever need to. They're not really all that popular because they need reloading so much and the senbon themselves don't do much damage at all." he explained eagerly.

"I don't think that's what I need." I admitted.

"Hm. No that's right. You want mid-range. This is more of a long range. You don't want them closing in on you if you're using this, it's easier to dodge if they're moving anyway. This is more for a standing enemy or as a surprise tactic. I sense you're one to either attack forwardly or not attack at all, right?" he asked out loud. Not even stopping for an answer before he unstrapped the senbon launcher and put it back up.

"Hm. No those won't do at all." he murmured passing a row of spears and pikes in different styles. "Maybe." he hummed to himself stopping in front of a gorgeous looking double sided blade with an extra blade that bent back towards the handle at a forty-five degree angle. It was highly polished silver and gleamed almost menacingly in the light. Attached to the simple wooden hilt was a rather thin chain about half an inch thick.

"This is called a kyoketsu-shoge. It's usually shortened to shoge for convenience. It's very useful. The blade can be thrown and caught on an outcropping or such and then you can use the chain to climb. It can also be used in close range to stab or slash opponents. It can also be used to trip or bind enemies and even to steal the weapon from their hands." he sounded almost eager. It did look rather useful...

"Maybe." I agreed. "Can we look at the Kusarigama?" I asked. I had done some research about japanese style weapons and it was honestly one of the few I had taken an interest in. I was also interested in kunai and shuriken.

The shop keeper hummed in assent and led the way to the Kusarigama. They were beautiful weapons too. One end was a short scythe. The handle was just about two feet at most. The blade was a foot long, gleaming and sharp. The chain was about five foot long and there was a round weight at the end that when hefted felt like it weighed about ten pounds. I was really interested in this weapon. I had honestly thought about it frequently.

"I think I want this." I stated testing the weight of both ends. Giving the weighted end an experimental twirl. It whistled through the air even with the slow speed it had gone at.

He smiled and nodded. "Is there anything else you want?" he asked curiously.

"I need blade polish and a polishing cloth. I'd also like five dozen kunai, two kunai pouches, and a lock picks kit." I stated.

"Very well." he stated walking towards said objects.

The total came to about 150,000 beli. Just over half of the money I had. I paid wordlessly. If the weapons saved my life they'd be worth it. Plus I could always make more money later.

"Come again!" the shop keeper called after me eagerly as I left the store. My kunai were in their pouches, the lock pick kit was strapped around my ankle (out of sight), and the Kusarigama was around my waist. The scythe portion was slipped into my belt, and the chain was wrapped around my waist several times with the weight dangling on the opposite hip of the scythe.

**A/n: There's part one of the Loguetown arch. I think there will be one more part but there might be two if it get's too long. Review and tell me what you guys think. Thanks for everyone who reviewed previously, and all the suggestions for weapons. **


	13. Loguetown Part 2: Narrow Escape

The boutique next door was my next stop. I need some other clothes for when we got to the Grand Line. All I had was four pairs of the same outfit, a coat, the shoes I was wearing, and the tee-shirt and shorts I had gotten from Cocoyoshi, as well as the pjs I had arrived in. I had two bras, one from Aiko and a sports bra that Nami had 'loaned' me (fucking loan shark) and as gross as it was I only had that one pair of underwear that I had been washing before my shower and letting dry as I got in the shower. It was a very gross practice that I intended to stop as soon as I got more underwear...

The boutique was a small family owned joint. It was labeled "Tomodachi's". I explored quietly and decided they wanted way too much for clothes. I could probably find a cheaper store. After all, my clothes were bound to get damaged during our trip. Especially since we were headed towards the Grand Line.

I wandered down the street, stopping every so often to stare at items in the windows. I stopped briefly at a craft store and bought several tee-shirts, a couple drawing pads, a few notebooks and a package of colored pencils. Well, that's that taken care of. I mused to myself.

I stopped a lady caring a shopping bag and asked if she could point me to a clothing store. She happily chatted with me for several minutes before pointing me in the right direction. Apparently her name was Ame, she had a pet dog named Shima, a younger brother named Arashi, she was seventeen, engaged to a man named Kasai who was a fisherman, and she was super excited for the wedding which was in a month's time. I shook my head in wonder. Wonders never ceased as far as I was concerned.

Ame had pointed me to a small store called simply "Koromo". It was almost like a mix of Walmart, Macy's, and Fashion Bug. It was odd to say the least. I went straight to the undergarments and grabbed ten pairs of underwear, ten sports bras, and a pack of socks (12 a pack!). Then I went through the rest of the store methodically. I bought two swimsuits, a one-piece (pun not intended) that was green, and a two piece that was blue with lighter blue flowers of some kind. I got four pairs of shorts, two skirts, two sqorts (skirt with shorts sewn in), two pairs of capris, and two dresses that went to about my knees. I also grabbed a pull over sweatshirt and a sweater-jacket (you know it's like a hoodie except it has a zipper?).

The whole lot cost me another 100,000 beli. Well worth it in my opinion. I glanced at my huge bag and decided to stop back at the ship before I went to look for an optometrist and somewhere to buy a log pose. I nearly skipped up the gangplank and dropped the bag on my bed with a soft thump.

I hummed under my breath as I moved back into town.

Hey that would've been a better nickname. Humming Hikari. Sounds better than the look-a-like at least. I chuckled at my own thought before I continued humming under my breath.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Hey you! Person with cloak!" I tilted my head to the side and turned to see who was talking and if they were talking to me.

"Have you seen this guy?" the guy asked brandishing Luffy's Wanted Poster.

"Can't say I have." I answered. "What'd he do to get a bounty like that?" I asked curiously.

"He beat Alvida, Buggy, Don Krieg and Arlong!" the man claimed as if that were a crime itself.

"So he's beating up pirates and you decide he's bad?" I asked. "Don't Marines and bounty hunters do the same thing?"

"He's a pirate!" the marine looked annoyed with being compared to a pirate.

I shrugged. "Just a label." I turned to leave before stopping.

"Hey, bud. Do you know where an optometrist is?"

"Huh?"

"A place where I can get my glasses replaced." I spoke slowly as if he were stupid for not knowing that.

"Sure. Megane's is two streets right and one block up." he seemed to ignore or just not notice my tone.

"And a place that sells Log Poses?"

"Konpasu's sells them. They're a block up from Megane's." he answered.

"Much obliged." I stated giving him a polite nod as I turned to head to Megane's. Two streets right and a block up. I thought to myself. Glasses first. If I didn't get a log pose it would be okay because Crocus would give Nami one if we didn't have one, right?

"Youkoso! How can I help you today?" the man at the counter asked eagerly.

"I needed my eyes checked and a pair of glasses that won't damage easily." I answered as I let the door close behind me.

"Clumsy, huh?" he asked as he bustled around to get everything set up.

"No. I just get in a lot of tussles with my family and I'd rather not have to replace my glasses too frequently." I stretched the truth a bit. Technically my crew was my family. If he took it to mean that I rough-housed with my brothers and sisters then so be it.

"Maybe we should get you two pairs then?" he asked as he gestured for me to sit down. The test didn't take more than twenty minutes. I think he saw my face and I really hoped he hadn't read the newspaper lately or that he didn't call the marines down on me as soon as I was out of hearing range.

"Pick out a pair of frames. You're lucky, I already have a few pieces of glass with your prescription A female marine is in here every other month needing a new pair, you two have the same prescription " he stated waving me over to a wall of frames.

Well isn't that just ironic and lucky. I wondered to myself. I picked out a pair of simple silver circular frames, and a pair of simple silver rectangle frames.

I handed them over and he quickly went to work. "They should be done in about half an hour. If you wanna wait you can, but you could also just come back in half an hour and pick them up." he offered.

"I'll be back in half an hour then. " I nodded in thanks and went to Konpasu's.

Konpasu's was a small store, very small, it couldn't have been bigger than the size of my dorm room at college. The walls were lined with compasses of all shapes and on a small shelf at the very back corner of the store was a small line of log poses and even a few eternal poses.

I scanned the eternal poses. Little Garden. Arabasta. Drum Island. And at the very back covered in dust was one labeled Skypiea. My eyes widened at that. Everybody thought Skypiea wasn't even real yet here was an eternal pose for it.

I carefully grabbed the eternal pose to Skypiea and a regular log pose and moved towards the counter. I paid a cheap 5,000 for both. Apparently it was a sucker's sale. As the clerk told me laughing. No one actually went to the Grand Line anymore and those that did quickly lost their lives. I gave him a rueful smile, that he probably couldn't see, and thanked him for the information and the sale. I carefully strapped the log pose to my left wrist, I was right handed so it would be in less danger that way, and put the eternal pose in the top pocket of my cargo pants.

It had only been fifteen minutes since I had left Megane's but I headed back there anyway.

I carefully cleaned my log pose with my shirt sleeve as I waited. Apparently they had been there for quite a while without people even looking at them, judging by the dust build up. The log pose was about the shape of a watch with a huge glass ball attached about the size of a tennis ball with a needle suspended by a thin wire. It pointed steadily half way between east and north east. Right towards the Reverse Mountain's entrance.

I smiled down at the log pose.

"You're glasses are ready." the optometrist called out as he placed two glasses cases on the counter. One was dark green and the other was the same shade of red as my hair.

"Thanks. How much do I owe you?" I asked expecting to spend the last of my money here.

"50,000 beli for the both of them." he stated. I easily handed the money over. I hesitated slightly before picking up the round framed ones and putting them on. Everything became instantly sharper and I was glad I bought them. I pocketed both cases.

"Thank you." I said as I left the store. The door chimed softly at my exit.

What should I do next? I wondered to myself. I only had about 4,000 beli left. I could get something to eat or drink I suppose...

I hesitated outside of a little cafe. It looked like a nice place. I argued fiercely with myself, trying to decide whether to stop there or not before finally turning and walking away. I wanted to see The Gold Roger bar. I didn't really know where it was but it couldn't be too hard to find, could it?

I wondered almost absently up and down different streets. I knew it was in a sparsely populated alley. At least that was how it looked in the anime. After walking down five streets I was starting to get discouraged. I think I read online that Loguetown covered the whole island except some of the hills. How was I supposed to find a little bar without any directions?

I was minutes from giving up and asking a local for directions when I stumbled into an abandoned alley. I glanced down it. It looked somewhat familiar. But then again for all I knew all abandoned alleys in Loguetown looked the same...

Ah. Why not? YOLO right?

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

My footsteps echoed as they hit the brick street. I could vague hear noise from the next street over. Something creaked softly as the wind blew down the alley. Then I found what I was looking for. A small, worn, wooden sign swung softly creaking proclaiming in fading white lettering "BAR GOLDROGER" with a skull that had cross bones behind it and the O with an 'X' in the middle.

"Found it." I muttered to myself. I walked down the stairs to the door and gently pushed the doors open. They opened with a soft creak. The bar was dark, there were wanted posters posted to the far wall, and bar was stocked with many bottles.

A white haired man was moving towards the door as I came in. A marine followed behind him like a puppy.

" 'Scuse me." I said stepping to the side to allow him to leave.

He stared at me for several seconds before nodding at me and walking past. The marine followed the man quickly.

"What can I get ya?" the old man asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have any cola would ya?" I asked actually curious. Most bars stocked soda as far as I knew.

"Yer the second person in the last hour to come into the bar and not want anything alcoholic." he chuckled good natured-ly as he reached into the mini fridge he had and pulled out a bottle of cola.

"Thanks." I glanced around cautiously before pushing the hood back so it wasn't covering my face. I didn't put it completely down but my face was now visible.

"Those look like they hurt." he stated.

"They hurt like a bitch. I'd take getting them again though, in a heartbeat. Get this, this pirate captain, Kuro something or another, fakes his death and spends two years getting close to this rich family. Offs the mom and dad of this heiress then spends another year or so, pretending to care for her after she gets ill from grief. The sniper on our crew is also a pathological liar, right?" I pause to make sure he's taking in the story.

"So he spends a lot of time in the tree outside this girl's window telling her tall tales with him as the hero trying to make her feel better. Anyway, this was before he joined the crew, so my captain and him over hear Kuro talking with his first mate, Django, who's a hypnotist. They're planning to have Django corner the girl and hypnotize her into writing that her butler Kuro or Klahadore which was the name he was going by, got all the money. So captain stands up and yells that he won't let them do that. Kuro orders Django to put captain to sleep so he won't be a problem. Captain falls off the cliff they're standing on and our sniper runs off thinking he died. He runs to the village to tell them what happened but the villagers turn on him because he spent the last like seven years of his life saying that pirates were coming, in the hope that eventually he'd be right and his dad would come home for him." I took a deep breath.

"So we find captain sleeping at the bottom of the cliff..." I pause at his incredulous look. "You wonder how he survived the fall, yes? He's a devil fruit user. Paramecia-type, the Gomu Gomu no Mi. He's made of rubber. Anyway he wakes up we decide to go tell the village but on the way we see our sniper. The three kids we have with us also want to tell the villagers so Ussop, that's our sniper's name, does this really fake laugh and says it was all a joke and it fools the three kids. So we prepare for battle. Anyway during the fight the heiress comes and tries to get Kuro to stop, only she snuck up behind him. So Ussop jumps to stop her from getting hurt and I rush in and shove both of them out of the way and got these as a souvenir."

I touched the scars lightly. "I was out of it for the rest of the fight and for about a week afterwards." I shrugged. "They're not so bad. I mean it's annoying with all the horrified gasps I hear when they're shown and sure the stupid nickname I got stuck with because of them sucks but it could have been worse. I mean I could have lost my eye or it could have went across my whole face instead of just the one side." I shrugged taking a draft of my cola.

"So I bet you have a bunch of stories, huh old timer?" I asked curiously tilting my head to the side.

So I sat and listened to him tell the story of Killer Giant and Gold Roger.

Then of how Gold Roger was the only man he knew who was unafraid of entering the Grand Line, until today...

I grinned at that add on. "Let me guess. A guy in a straw hat, with a grin like the cat that got the canary, the goldfish, and the cream all at once said he was going to the Grand Line." I stated.

His eyes widened. "That's a pretty good guess..."

"Not a guess. That's just the way Captain is." I smiled fondly.

"So you're going to the Grand Line too?"

I held up my left arm, the log pose strapped firmly to my wrist. "That's right." I agreed. "Speaking of my captain, I should really go find him. He gets in a lot of trouble if left to his own devices." I thought outloud.

I set down some money on the counter. "Thanks for the stories and the cola, old man." I stated a small smile in my voice.

He chuckled behind me. "And good luck to you, young piratess." he stated.

I grinned at that. Piratess, huh? I liked it.

I stretched carefully, careful to keep my hood over my head. I hurried towards main street. I think at least. I moved quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself.

"I MISSED!" a yell startled me out of my thoughts as I whipped my head up to see Luffy fly overhead.

I instantly turn to follow his trajectory and mentally plotted his landing point. I hurried towards where I thought he landed.

It took me an hour and a half, before I gave up. I frowned. I would just go back to the main square, he'd end up there eventually, right?

I frowned to myself as I sat myself on the edge of one of the fountains in the main square. I crossed and uncrossed my leg, tapped my foot impatiently, and even twiddled my thumbs. I sighed. Waiting was boring...

I sighed, maybe I could meditate until Luffy got around to showing up.

Inhale...1...2...3...4...5...

Exhale...1...2...3...4...5...

Everything seemed to fall away. Sounds dulled, my eyes closed... Nothing could bother me.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"So this is what the Pirate King saw before he died..." a voice filtered in. Luffy.

I opened my eyes.

Just as I thought. Luffy was standing on the execution platform looking around wildly.

"Wow. Someone's on the execution platform."

"Who the heck is that?"

"That old man said this is the place where it all happened." Luffy continued. "Twenty-two years ago the King of the Pirates was executed right here."

"Hey you! Up there! Get down from there immediately!" A man with a megaphone demanded.

"But why?" Luffy returned

"You're standing on a execution platform that belongs to the World Government! Now get down from there right now."

"Fine. I'll come down. But first you gotta say the magic word...and smile too."

"I'm not playing, I'll arrest you if you don't come down!" he was whacked on the back of the head by an iron club.

I was almost incredulous as how the new skinny Alvida managed to get everyone to fall for her. Even the police that came to arrest her.

A felt a prickling sense of wrongness. The hair on the nape of my neck stood up. Move! A whistling sound then a boom as the fountain exploded!

I dove as far as I could out of the way but I was still hit by debris of the fountain that I had been sitting on moments previously.

A pair of villagers helped me up. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the ringing in my ears. My cloak's hood fell down revealing my red hair and scarred face.

"The Look-A-Like!" the pair of villagers who had helped me up let go of my arms and backed away as fast as they could. I frowned at that and whipped my cloak off completely.

"...I've been obsessed with getting my revenge on you." I barely heard Buggy's monologue, over the scattered fearful remarks my identity had caused. I hadn't even done anything yet...

"What was your name again...Buggi, Boogy, Beefy, Baggy... Ah! I know! It's buffoon!" I roared in laughter at that. That's my captain, alright.

"Buffoon! You gotta lotta nerve, you rubber bastard!" Buggy shouted. "And now Buggy the Clown is gonna make you pay for that!"

"Hey, that's Buggy the Clown!"

"Pirates!"

"It's the Buggy Pirates!" A sudden surge of people fleeing for their lives made a nice circle around the execution platform as Buggy demanded the civilians' presence.

Suddenly Luffy was in the head and wrist block thing. I had no clue what it was called actually... Hm. That seemed like a serious gap in my vocabulary now...

I unwrapped my kusarigama from around my waist.

"Oi! Rudolph!" I called out, starting to swing the weighted end of the chain to build up momentum.

Buggy turned angrily. "Who flashily dares interrupt my flashy execution!"

"Me." I stated. My scythe felt almost familiar in my right hand. My left hand was twirling the weighted chain faster and faster.

"Take care of her until I finish off the Straw Hat!" Buggy ordered. Several Buggy Pirates came towards me. I worked on hurriedly taking out as many pirates as I could.

One. Two. Five. Seven. Ten. They just kept coming. It was like a swarm. Annoying insects.

"LISTEN! I'M THE MAN WHO'LL BE KING OF THE PIRATES!" Luffy's voice echoed, his last sentence.

"Stop the execution, now!" Sanji and Zoro shouted in unison.

"Sanji! Zoro! Hikari!"

"Luffy you idiot. Guess all that fooling around finally caught up to ya, huh?"

"Ya starting a side show? Or is that just how you look? Pretty sad, now what we gotta do is drive these goons away!"

The civilians scattered at the observation "It's Zoro!"

"Hey guys!" Luffy looked happy to see us.

"We gotta brake down the platform!" Zoro exclaimed.

The two hurriedly started beating up the other Buggy Pirates.

"Zoro! Sanji! Hikari! Usopp! Nami! Sorry, but... I'm dead." Luffy grinned hugely.

"NO!" I shouted. It was a denial, a protest, and a demand all at once. A whole bunch of people fell to the ground foaming at the mouth like rabid dogs.

Everyone but Buggy, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy and a few scattered pirates and marines were down for the count.

My protest didn't matter all that much. Just as the sword was coming down on Luffy's neck a huge amount of lightning struck the highest point of metal in the city. Which just happened to be the execution platform. I had never been more grateful that Luffy was made of rubber and therefore impervious to lighting.

Luffy's hat floated down peacefully and he picked it up laughing.

"I'm still alive! That's nice."

Wow, Luffy. King of Pirates? More like King of Understatements.

"That was divine intervention." Sanji claimed.

"Stop talking nonsense." Zoro ordered. "We gotta get out of this town. Our troubles aren't over."

"ATTACK! SURROUND ALL THE PIRATES NOW!" Smoker ordered. The marines that were still conscious poured into the area like a colony of ants swarm when their hill was destroyed.

"Oh wow. So cool. Everybody went crazy so quickly!" Luffy dodged the flying Buggy Pirates, the few that were still conscious enough to fight, that the marines had hit.

Zoro grabbed Luffy by the scruff of his red vest. "Luffy."

"Zoro!"

"We don't have time for this. We have got to get out of here."

"We had better get back to the Going Merry or we'll never get out of here. And we sure as hell won't get to the Grand Line." Sanji claimed.

"Really? Well that's no good!" Luffy stated.

"The straw hat gang is getting away!" A marine shouted out and a group of marines quickly tried to block the way. They were quickly taken out.

And we ran.

Luffy was leading. Sanji and Zoro were running side by side. I was behind everyone, trailing slightly. Why did I have to be so slow?

"Which way's the sea?"

"I don't know. The rain makes it hard to tell where we're going." Great and he's leading us.

A mob of marines followed us. "There they are!"

"Damn they're like roaches. You wanna stop and fight them?"

"There's no time for that." Sanji started. "Oh wow! Who is that?" his eye went all heart-like, as he stared at the woman standing in front of us.

"I didn't know you were Zoro. And a pirate as well. You lied. You're just another liar!" Tashigi yelled angrily.

"Ah great. Just what the hell did you do to that girl?!" Sanji demanded of Zoro.

"You never asked my name, did you? So I never lied did I?" Zoro stepped forward.

"You know there's no way I'm going to let someone like you to leave town with such a legendary sword! Give it to me! The Wado Ichimonji!" Tashigi demanded.

"Come and get it!" Zoro challenged.

Their swords clashed violently. And again. And again.

"What a jerk! You can't fight a girl!" Sanji yelled.

"I can handle myself!" Tashigi yelled. "This is a fight between the two of us. I don't need any help so back off!"

"Let's go!" Luffy ordered.

"Hey Zoro if you hurt her I'm gonna kick your ass!" Sanji threatened.

"Sanji quit being such a sexist bastard or _I'm_ gonna kick your ass!" I threatened as I followed Luffy and Sanji.

"I see the ship! The harbor is up ahead!" Luffy cheered.

A shape appeared at the edge of the path.

"Great now what?" Sanji stated.

It was Smoker and he was parked in our path.

"Strawhat Luffy. You're finally here. I already told you that you couldn't make it to the Grand Line unless you got through me first." Smoker stated.

"Oh yeah! I forgot!" Luffy said.

"You're really stupid aren't you." Smoker deadpanned.

"Let's go." Sanji whispered to Luffy.

"Sanji, Hikari, I'll be right there. Go on." Luffy ordered.

"I don't know about that. This'll be the end for you." Smoker claimed.

"GO!" Luffy ordered again.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Nami!" Sanji yelled as we ran along the shore beside the ship.

A crowd of marines quickly got in our way.

Usopp jumped from the ship and started picking off some of the marines with his slingshot.

Sanji started doing a series of round house kicks by doing a hand stand. I tried to stay out of his way as I fought off my own group of marines.

A sudden gale of wind sudden made us all end up in a small area around each other. Luffy ran the opposite direction and did a gum gum bazooka, flinging the lot of us onto the Going Merry.

I groaned in pain as Zoro, Sanji and Ussop landed on me.

We hurriedly got up. The rain was coming down in sheets. I shivered slightly. I was really glad I had managed to keep my log pose and eternal pose safe from the surprise crash landing.

A light house shined up ahead of us.

"Is that a light house?" Ussop asked, his arms wrapped around the mast as well as he could.

"It's one of the guide posts. The entrance to the Grand Line is somewhere ahead." Nami explained.

"The Grand Line is somewhere just out ahead." Luffy breathed, he was sitting cross legged on the rail that went around the ship.

"What now?" Nami asked.

"Do we have to go in the middle of a freakin' hurricane like this?" Ussop asked.

Zoro nodded. Sanji gave a thumbs up.

"Okay then, I think we should say something to mark the occasion." Sanji stated.

A round of agreements followed.

"I'm going to the Grand Line to find the All-Blue!" Sanji started putting his foot up onto the barrel.

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy went next.

"The world's best swordsman." Zoro stated.

"I'm going so I can draw a map of the entire world." Nami continued.

"I guess I'm going to be a brave warrior of the sea!" Usopp stated.

"I'm going so I can find my way home!" I added.

We all lifted our legs up and as one brought them down smashing the barrel. All of us ignored the storm going on around us as we silently celebrated our progress on our journey so far.

**A/n: So what do you guys think? I actually really like this chapter. It's my second draft of it. In the first version I had Hikari get a hat like Luffy's except with a green ribbon but I thought it was a little too Mary-Sue-ish so I took it out. Anyway tell me what you think. All reviews are cherished 100th reviewer gets a chapter dedicated to them. :D (I'm a shameless briber. If you haven't noticed yet... :D) **

**P.S. This chapter has over 4500 words. Aren't you so proud of me? :)**


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